Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has protested Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun’s format for the Budget 2021 winding-up speeches by ministers, characterising it as “unparliamentary”.
This morning, Azhar announced that ministers will each get 20 minutes to answer questions posed to their respective ministries. Given the time limit, ministers will present an “executive summary” of their answers and the rest will be uploaded onto the Parliament website.
Sittings in this Parliament session have been shortened to end at 2pm. Only a total of 80 MPs are allowed in the House at a time as a Covid-19 precautionary measure.
Anwar (Harapan-Port Dickson) requested for the time limit to be extended to allow for MPs to engage ministers in debates.
“I believe the speaker knows that the role of Parliament, especially during minister answering time, (is to allow) debates, interruptions, disputations, and questions. It is impossible for this to happen in 20 minutes.
“What is the point of Parliament if the minister is only required to read the executive summary for 20 minutes?
“Parliament does not work in this manner (if) the minister just gives an executive answer with no questions asked, no time (for interruptions) and if the rest of the answers can be read at home,” he said.
“This is not the spirit that should be respected by Parliament,” he stressed.
For previous budgets, ministries typically took about an hour to present their full winding-up speeches.
Anwar also proposed that the 80-MP cap be lifted. He said more than half a dozen Opposition MPs had requested Azhar to be more flexible with the limit on the number of MPs who can attend a Dewan Rakyat session and the format for the ministers’ winding-up speech.
“The MPs who raised the issues must be allowed inside when the minister answers. But this 80-MP limit has curtailed their right to be here.
“Please give some leeway so that more than 80 MPs can enter the hall and more time can be allowed to enable interruptions,” he said.
A string of opposition MPs echoed Anwar’s call and urged Azhar to reconsider the rules.
De facto Law Minister Takiyuddin Hassan defended the new format, saying the need for a shorter sitting was based on advice from Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
“This is not an excuse. We are not simply giving inappropriate reasons.
“The Health Ministry says a longer Parliament (session) is riskier, according to the director-general,” he said.
Takiyuddin assured that all winding-up speech texts will be promptly uploaded in full onto the Parliament website and be included in the Dewan Rakyat Hansard.
He, however, did not respond to the opposition’s query on whether the ministers will be answering any supplementary questions.
In previous parliaments, the ministers are also required to respond to any supplementary questions posed by MPs. But under the PN government, such sessions have been reduced to academic levels.
The weekly Minister’s Question Time, for instance, is now a session where the minister reads out the answers without being required to respond to any queries.
Despite Takiyuddin’s explanation, Dzulkefly Ahmad (Harapan-Kuala Selangor) disputed the need for such rules as Covid-19 precautions had already been taken.
He said that MPs undergo swab tests for Covid-19 regularly and the Parliament building is sanitised daily. MPs were also seated physically distanced from each other, with each MP further separated from each other by a plastic screen.
“When a minister speaks, they are (seated) very far away and in a hall that has been sanitised.
“I dispute these limitations and why a minister is only given 20 minutes (to speak).
“This is not based on science or evidence-based medicine,” Dzulkefly said.
Teo Nie Ching (Harapan-Kulai) similarly questioned the logic behind the time limit and shortened parliamentary sittings.
“If people can work eight hours a day, why can’t an MP? We should be serving the people. We come here for four hours a day and get paid a full day’s allowance.
“I think this is making a very bad example. If we say (MPs) should not work more than four hours a day, I hope this principle can be applied for the rakyat,” she remarked.
But Azhar stood his ground and brushed aside the concerns.
“Why do you raise this now when we had decided earlier? This is just like Budget Day, when you asked to allow more MPs in.”
He insisted that today’s winding-up speeches by the Prime Minister’s Department, International Trade and Industry Ministry, Defence Ministry, and Public Works Ministry will proceed as planned.
He reiterated that he practises an open-door policy and actively engages with opposition MPs, often requesting meetings with them, even if they do not always show up.
“I have said many times before that my door is open so we can discuss things.
“If you (the opposition) seek a resolution but do not come to talk it over, it makes things difficult,” he said.
He also expressed his disappointment that opposition MPs did not try to meet him first and only raised the issue today.
“I can even come to the office on Sunday. Everyone knows my WhatsApp number. I can even come for a meeting (with MPs) on Sunday night,” he said.
After much back and forth, the speaker said he will call for a meeting to discuss the matter with either the chiefs or whips of all parties.