Ministers still guilty of parliamentary truancy: Azalina

In her first hundred days as Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Azalina Othman Said has expressed her frustration over the absence of ministers and lawmakers during Parliament sittings.

The minister-in-charge of parliamentary affairs said she noticed an 'empty hall' with ministers on rotation duty being absent.

This was one of the setbacks she noticed which she said she could trace back to her days as a backbencher (2009-2015).

"I am going to raise it with the prime minister today. The ministers on duty, where is your rotation ? You don't see the ministers coming.

"You see an empty hall. Everybody says, 'Yes... yes, I will be around.' This is the question that we need to ask ourselves," she said.

She said the ministers' presence in Parliament was crucial as the backbenchers had to to meet them by appointment.

"You know, the appointment to meet the ministers is not very easy sometimes. So if the ministers are not accessible even in Parliament, I think this is unfair to MPs from both sides," she said during a media interview yesterday.

Taking a swipe at absent BN MPs meanwhile, she said: "Your duty to your constituency includes attending Parliament sittings. The Parliament does not sit 365 days a year, only three sessions a year. And you can't make the effort to be around."

Opposition lawmakers have frequently complained about the absence of the prime minister and ministers during the Parliament sessions.

On June 17, 2014, DAP's Bakri parliamentarian pointed out that Najib was only present for 26 days out of a total of 358 days of Parliament sittings from 2009 to 2014.

Touching on another matter – parliamentary reform - Azalina chose her words carefully when asked about the efforts towards this by Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia.

She even went to the extent of noting that as a junior minister she was not in the right position to comment on the matter.

'Scream and shout'

The executive branch has been accused of fiddling with the legislative institution which caused an uptight Pandikar to threaten to resign a few months ago.

Azalina explained her 'dilemma' which was that her scope of duties was only ministerial coordination, while other parliamentary matters fell under the jurisdiction of the speaker.

"I'm not in charge of any agency except the National Civics Bureau. In certain policy directions of the agencies, I cannot intervene or have a say. So, that's an uphill battle," said the former tourism minister.

"I think he (the speaker) has to raise it with the prime minister, that is his personal view," she said, responding to Pandikar's suggestion to abolish Azalina's portfolio of parliamentary affairs minister.

"As speaker, he is entitled to raise any views or changes regarding ministers' duty in Parliament. This is his prerogative [...] he can bring them up and discuss," she said.

However, it's up to the prime minister to decide whether he wants to retain the parliamentary affairs portfolio, she added.

Azalina also took to task opposition MPs whom she said 'scream and shout' in the House.

"We are MPs. You want to scream and shout, this is your style. When you say something, be professional, (when a proper explanation is given) accept it.

"In some countries, the answer time is short. But when you (opposition lawmakers) blah... bla ... blah and not focus on the question, you people are boring too.

"To be fair, people want to know your answer, people don't want to listen to your lecture," she said.

Azalina was again cautious when asked about sexist and derogatory terms being used by MPs in the House, the latest being by BN's Baling parliamentarian Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim.

"I am the chief of the women's caucus in Parliament. You are right, (but) don't talk make sexist remarks. I give you an example - smoking.

"When you go overseas, you don't dare to smoke when you see a no-smoking sign. But in Malaysia, you will belasah (just go ahead).

"If a no-smoking rule you also don't respect, you want me to talk about women? How do I explain that? And sometimes, the MPs explain that they were just joking," she said.

'More female MPs'

She said the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry should come up with programmes to raise the people's awareness, she suggested.

Azeez had called DAP's Batu Kawan parliamentarian Kasthuriraani Patto 'worse than pondan' when she refused to let him interject during her Budget 2016 debate on Monday.

He also told an opposition lawmaker to balik Tong San the next day when verbal fight broke out in the House.

"Batu Kawan (Kasthuriraani) challenged us (in her debate). I stood up, I wanted to speak, but she said 'no'. Then I asked, 'Why are you afraid? You are worse than a pondan'," Azeez explained on Tuesday after the opposition complained about his remarks.

To this, Azalina said Azeez's explanation sound okay to her.

"To be fair, the explanation (given by Azeez) is that my interpretation is okay, but for you it is sensitive. This is subjective," she said in defending Azeez.

"I was monitoring the remark. I thought the speaker would say,'I will punish you'. I thought the speaker would put his foot down.

“Only he has the right. People like us cannot stand up and say, 'You should punish him', " she added.

"The solution of this is that maybe we can have more female MPs," she said.

Azalina noted that the prime minister and deputy prime minister have frequently reminded BN backbenchers not to utter racist and sexist remarks. -Mkini