KUALA LUMPUR: The Dewan Rakyat proceedings today came to a halt due to a lack of quorum, as there were not enough members of parliament in the hall.
The matter was raised by Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan), who asked for a ruling from Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Nga Kor Ming.
Steven Choong Shiau Yoon (PH-Tebrau), who was in the midst of his 2020 Budget debate speech, was told to sit down.
Nga then ordered the Dewan Rakyat Bell to be rung for one minute, and asked MPs in the lounge to enter the hall.
Under Standing Order 13, there must be at least 26 MPs in the 222-seat Dewan to allow proceedings to be held.
While the bell rang, several MPs were seen entering the hall, and proceedings resumed shortly after.
Opposition chief whip Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri described it as an “unfortunate incident”, and said the government should dissolve Parliament if they were no longer interested.
He told reporters at the Parliament lobby that this “trend” began on Monday, the week after the 2020 Budget was tabled.
“This is their (the government’s) budget, but not even the finance minister or his deputy are present to listen to the debates.
“It is as if Pakatan Harapan MPs and ministers are not interested.
“If you’re not interested anymore, dissolve Parliament and let the people vote in MPs who are willing to listen to the debates,” he added.
Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) supreme council member Datuk Dr Rais Hussin had on Tuesday lamented the abysmal attendance rate of MPs in the current Dewan Rakyat sitting.
He took to Twitter to question how the attendance could be improved, especially given that the 2020 Budget was being debated.
Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin had also previously shared an Instagram story on his acccount, showing an image of an apparently empty Dewan Rakyat.
“I spoke in front of this ‘crowd’. That’s the government front bench on day one of Budget debate,” he had commented with the photo.
This was not the first time Dewan Rakyat proceedings had to be suspended over a lack of quorum.
On July 25 last year, the Dewan Rakyat was forced to halt proceedings temporarily over the same issue.
In that incident, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Mohamad Arrif Md Yusof had ordered the House to stand down after Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi (PBB-Kapit) said that there were not enough MPs in the hall.
That incident came only a day after Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had voiced his dissatisfaction over the poor attendance rate of his cabinet members and their deputies in Parliament.