PARLIAMENT | Dewan Rakyat speaker Johari Abdul this morning blasted the opposition for saying they have the right to have their questions answered by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during the Minister’s Question Time.

This occurred during an exchange between Johari and Takiyuddin Hassan (PN-Kota Bharu), who stood up just before the session began and objected to the list of questions for today.

The Perikatan Nasional chief whip said the list only contained two questions for Anwar, both from government MPs.

On Tuesday and Thursday, the Dewan Rakyat session will start with the Minister's Question Time, with Anwar making it a customary practice to attend and answer questions on Tuesday.

Takiyuddin pointed out that this was not the first time the opposition’s questions were left out.

“When we submitted our questions for the Oct 30 (Minister’s Question Time), none of our questions got listed. Nov 4, which was last week, was also the same. And then today, Nov 11.

"For the record, Putrajaya MP had submitted a question for today's (session) on Nov 10, which was within (ample) time.

"We don't think the prime minister is someone who can't handle questions. He could even answer questions at a pasar malam (night market) in Sabah," the PAS lawmaker said.

Speaker’s decision

Takiyuddin further claimed that the list of questions was not decided by the speaker but chosen by the minister in charge of Parliament.

Johari denied this, stressing that it was within his purview.

He said he had to be fair in his decisions, and pointed out that the opposition had only submitted one question for today, compared to eight from government MPs.

Johari added that all the questions from the opposition had already been answered by the prime minister before.

"My question now is, is it fair for me to allow you to send just one question? There were eight questions (from the government bench), of course, I gave (priority) to those who submitted more.

"There was no issue of whether (they came from) the opposition or otherwise. Unless this happens when your side submitted eight, this side also submitted eight, then it makes sense (for you to raise an issue)," he said.

Kota Bharu MP Takiyuddin Hassan

In response, Takiyuddin told Johari that the speaker “shouldn’t deny our right” and insisted that regardless of how many questions the opposition submitted, “we have a right”.

This led Johari to reprimand the PN leader.

"You have no right! The right is on me.

"I am the one who will decide. You have no right at all," Johari said.

Takiyuddin then backed down but said the speaker should treat both sides equally, to which Johari advised the opposition to send more questions for his consideration.

‘I won’t evade questions’

Later, when Anwar began answering questions, the premier agreed with Johari on the matter, saying the questions submitted by PN had been answered many times before.

"If you want to accuse me of evading, I am not. You can ask me any question, I won't run away.

"This is something that Kota Bharu has to hear. I will not evade any question. But if we have already answered it before, then you should read the content of the agreement 5.2, 7.3 and such here.

"If they are absent, that is a different story," he said.

It is believed that Anwar was referring to the Malaysia-US reciprocal trade agreement, which had been a point of contention between the opposition and Putrajaya.

Reporting by Hariz Mohd, Alyaa Alhadjri and Haspaizi Zain