Speaker admonishes tardy ministers for missing questions in Parliament

 Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul says it does not reflect well on the House when ministers are absent and unable to answer questions from MPs.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul requested ministry officials, particularly secretaries-general, to advise ministerial officers to regularly check with the Dewan Rakyat secretariat for changes in the question sequence.

PETALING JAYA:

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul has urged members of the administration to arrive early for sittings to avoid missing questions as this reflects poorly on the House.

He highlighted this morning’s sitting, during which certain questions could not be answered because the relevant parties were absent.

Johari said that, in certain situations, MPs scheduled to ask questions could not attend for unavoidable reasons, resulting in their questions being skipped.

“And sometimes the minister or deputy minister also happens to be outside because their turn is still far off, according to the order paper. When their turn comes, they are not present either, so the speaker has to skip it as well.

“This does not reflect well (on the House). I would like to advise members of the administration to arrive early and be in the Dewan Rakyat even if your question is scheduled for later,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Johari also requested ministry officials, particularly secretaries-general, to advise ministerial officers to regularly check with the Dewan Rakyat secretariat for changes to the question sequence.

“This is because names or question numbers sometimes change at the last minute due to requests from ministers or other unavoidable circumstances that we have to accommodate,” he said.

Johari said all parties must play their role in improving the conduct of Dewan Rakyat sittings, especially now that the institution has administrative autonomy.

Earlier, several opposition MPs raised concerns over the absence of health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad and his deputy, Hanifah Hajar Taib, during Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat.

Their absence was noticed after deputy speaker Alice Lau called on Zahir Hassan (PH-Wangsa Maju) to ask the third question listed for the health ministry in the order paper.

The second question scheduled for the transport ministry was also skipped as Siti Mastura Muhammad (PN-Kepala Batas), who was supposed to ask the question, was absent. - FMT