KUALA LUMPUR: The Dewan Rakyat sitting almost came to a halt due to a lack of quorum for the second time this week.
Perikatan Nasional's Datuk Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, who is Pengkalan Chepa member of parliament, raised the motion on Standing Order 13.
Deputy Speaker Datuk Ramli Mohd Nor then ordered the Parliament secretary to do a headcount, and found that the house was one person short of the 26-person quorum.
"Please ring the bell for two minutes. If nobody comes in (and we don't meet the quorum), I will leave the hall," Ramli said.
At this point, Teresa Kok (PH-Seputeh) said Marzuk, who raised the point of order, was part of the "gang" who were not present in the Dewan Rakyat.
"These people only want their names to be in the news. These ustaz are irresponsible," she said.
Before the bell rang, however, one lawmaker entered the hall.
"There are now 26 people, we can continue," said Ramli.
Only several opposition MPs were seen in Parliament today. It is learnt that many in the opposition bloc were in Putrajaya to lend support to PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Muhyiddin, who is also Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president, had been summoned to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission headquarters to give his statement on the funds allocated for the Jana Wibawa programme.
On Tuesday, the Dewan Rakyat also came close to being halted as there were only 24 MPs in the Dewan Rakyat at the time.
Jamaludin Yahya (PN-Pasir Salak) raised the point of order while Wong Kah Woh (PH-Taiping) was debating the Supply Bill 2023.
The bell was then rung for about 50 seconds before several MPs entered, and the proceedings resumed.