PN MPs: We didn't play truant
PARLIAMENT | Opposition MPs defended their absence from the morning session of the Dewan Rakyat, saying that they were giving support to the Save Shariah Movement at the grounds of the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya.
Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (PN-Bukit Gantang) said that the absence of opposition representatives this morning was not an act of truancy...
PARLIAMENT | Opposition MPs have defended their absence from the morning session of the Dewan Rakyat, saying that they were supporting the Save Syariah Movement at the grounds of the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya.
Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (PN-Bukit Gantang) said that their absence was not an act of truancy.
"We are always present in the Dewan Rakyat, just that this morning we went to the Palace of Justice to give support and solidarity to the syariah law.
"We are said to be truant, but we are not actually truant," he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
Syed Abu Hussin (above) said this during the 2024 Supply Bill (Budget 2024) debate session at the committee level for the Health Ministry.
Earlier this morning, the absence of opposition parliamentarians caught the eye of the Dewan Rakyat.
Mohd Isam Mohd Isa (BN-Tampin) stood up to interrupt and inform the speaker that no opposition MP was present at the oral question session.
"Speaker, it’s not many people are absent (but) there is not even a single opposition (MP) today," said Isam.
Following that, Dewan Rakyat speaker Johari Abdul allowed MPs to raise three additional questions to the minister or deputy minister during the oral question session.
In fact, some questions raised by PN MPs had to be skipped due to the absence of the relevant representatives.
Questions related to the questions of Ahmad Amzad Mohamed (PN-Kuala Terengganu); Wan Hassan Mohd Ramli (PN-Dungun); Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz (PN-Tanah Merah) and Ali Biju (PN-Saratok) were among those who rose during the oral question session.
What about ministers?
Meanwhile, Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (PN-Pasir Mas) was also not happy when the opposition was accused of skipping the Parliament session and tried to turn the tables by raising the question of whether the absence of some full ministers can also be considered truancy.
"Can we say that all ministers who are not present (all except the health minister) are absent at this time?" he said when interrupting Syed Abu Hussin's debate.
In response, the Bukit Gantang MP said: "The minister may be busy distributing allocations."
Arau MP Shahidan Kassim even threatened that he would cite those playing up the absence of PN MPs under 36 (12) of the Standing Orders which states that any member who imputes statements that mislead the house is deemed to be in contempt of the house and the member may be referred to the Committee of Privileges for the offence.
Shahidan said that almost every evening, Parliament had to wait to achieve its quorum of MPs before starting proceedings.
