12/11: Debacle as MPs give sitting a miss
Category: News
Posted by: raja petra
New Straits Times
IT was a peculiar question hour yesterday as the house skipped almost half of the questions in the order paper because the MPs who posed them and those who were supposed to provide the answers were absent.
In all, 13 questions were left unanswered. The government and opposition blamed each other for the debacle.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Aziz said the absent MPs were irresponsible for giving yesterday’s sitting a miss.
“There is no excuse. Their responsibility is towards the house,” he said in the lobby.
In the house earlier, opposition leader Lim Kit Siang charged it was the government which was being irresponsible as some questions were not answered as no one from the respective ministries was around.
He urged speaker Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib to admonish the government but the latter advised everyone to play their part.
Ramli said MPs should be present if they wanted their questions answered, with the same rule applying to ministers, deputy ministers and parliamentary secretaries.
Last month, a similar situation arose after many MPs went missing, saying they had to attend the launch of the East Coast Economic Region in Terengganu.
Yesterday, the Sarawak block was empty as most of the MPs from the state stayed back as the prime minister was visiting while members from Sabah, particularly from Parti Bersatu Sabah, appeared to have taken the day off after their party’s congress.
IT was a peculiar question hour yesterday as the house skipped almost half of the questions in the order paper because the MPs who posed them and those who were supposed to provide the answers were absent.
In all, 13 questions were left unanswered. The government and opposition blamed each other for the debacle.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Aziz said the absent MPs were irresponsible for giving yesterday’s sitting a miss.
“There is no excuse. Their responsibility is towards the house,” he said in the lobby.
In the house earlier, opposition leader Lim Kit Siang charged it was the government which was being irresponsible as some questions were not answered as no one from the respective ministries was around.
He urged speaker Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib to admonish the government but the latter advised everyone to play their part.
Ramli said MPs should be present if they wanted their questions answered, with the same rule applying to ministers, deputy ministers and parliamentary secretaries.
Last month, a similar situation arose after many MPs went missing, saying they had to attend the launch of the East Coast Economic Region in Terengganu.
Yesterday, the Sarawak block was empty as most of the MPs from the state stayed back as the prime minister was visiting while members from Sabah, particularly from Parti Bersatu Sabah, appeared to have taken the day off after their party’s congress.
Rohani Hitam wrote: