Parliament sitting nearly adjourns due to not meeting quorum

PARLIAMENT | The Dewan Rakyat sitting today was almost cut short as it did not meet the quorum of 26 parliamentarians in attendance around 2pm.

Towards the end of Entrepreneurship and Cooperatives Development Minister Ewon Benedick’s winding up speech, Ahmad Marzuk Shaary (Perikatan Nasional-Pengkalan Chepa) stood up and urged for a check on the quorum according to the Standing Orders.

This irritated Teresa Kok (Pakatan Harapan-Seputeh), who lambasted the lack of attendance from opposition MPs in Parliament today.

“Deputy speaker, the one calling for the quorum, it is his gang who are all not here, where did all the ustaz go?” Kok asked.

Deputy Dewan Rakyat speaker Ramli Mohd Nor said the call for quorum is in accordance with the Standing Orders and must be abided by.

After a quick count, Ramli informed the House that there were only 25 lawmakers inside the Dewan Rakyat – one short of the required quorum of 26 MPs.

If the quorum is not met, the proper procedure would be for the speaker or deputy speaker chairing the sitting to ring the bell for two minutes to allow MPs time to enter the House.

If there is still not enough to fill the quorum at the end of the two minutes, the sitting will be forced to adjourn for the day.

As Ramli was about to ring the bell, Kok quipped again, “These people, they just want their names to get into the news”.

However, enough MPs then entered the House to fulfil the quorum, which rendered it unnecessary for Ramli to ring the bell.

It was reported this morning that a significant number of PN lawmakers were absent from Parliament today.

Deputy Agriculture and Food Security Minister Chan Foong Hin questioned if the PN MPs had instead gone to the MACC headquarters to show solidarity with coalition chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin.

Muhyiddin was summoned for questioning by the MACC at 11am today, with sources saying the Pagoh MP will face multiple criminal charges in court tomorrow.

Around 100 Muhyiddin supporters, mostly clad in white T-shirts bearing his image, gathered outside the agency’s headquarters as early as 9am this morning.

Among those spotted in the crowd were PN deputy chairperson Ahmad Faizal Azumu, Indera Mahkota MP Saifuddin Abdullah, Bersatu supreme council member Azmin Ali, and Bersatu Youth information chief Mohd Ashraf Mustaqim Badrul Munir.

Dewan Rakyat skips lunch break for 3 days straight due to tight schedule

Deputy minister: Only a few opposition MPs in Dewan Rakyat today

Muhyiddin to face multiple charges in KL court tomorrow: MACC sources

Probe against Muhyiddin aimed to cripple Bersatu - Azmin

PM on Muhyiddin: If all MACC cases 'political', can no one be arrested?