PARLIAMENT | Lawmakers today urged Dewan Rakyat speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof to take action after a smoking ban was imposed in Parliament by Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.

Johari Abdul (Harapan-Sungai Petani) raised a point of order at the end of oral questions, saying that ministers had no power to enforce anything in Parliament as it is the domain of the speaker.

"This House is yours (speaker), minister(s) have no power (here). A minister can't simply stick notices as he wills. He must discuss it with the speaker first.

"The speaker will then inform us, and then let it be the speaker that sticks the notice.

"I don't smoke, but (I want) to be fair to all of us who have privileges. Speaker, you are our boss, not the ministers," Johari said.

As such, he said, Ariff must retract the notice signed by Dzulkefly, as the notice should come from the speaker.

Johari (photo) was supported by Ismail Mohamed Said (BN-Kuala Krau) and Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan).

Bung added to Johari's remarks, saying no enforcement officers are allowed to patrol Parliament without the speaker's permission.

"We give full power to the speaker to resolve this, they must respect the speaker," Bung said.

Ariff responded calmly, saying that he will issue guidance once he has studied all standing orders and legal aspects.

"In the meantime, I am working to solve this as best as possible, so please be patient," the Dewan Rakyat speaker said.

However, Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye had told reporters yesterday that the ministry obtained permission from the speaker to close the smoking room.

Dzulkefly declared Parliament a no-smoking zone on Monday.

On Tuesday, health officers stuck notices at the Parliament's smoking room as a reminder of the ban, as eight people, including an MP, were fined for smoking in Parliament.