Dr Mahathir chides MPs for going MIA

Noel Achariam Noel Achariam Updated 6 years ago · Published on 21 Nov 2019 10:40AM · 4 Comments

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad accuses lawmakers of giving the impression they’re not serious about serving the people. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Najjua Zulkefli, November 21, 2019.

DR Mahathir Mohamad today chided some members of parliament for their absence from the house which gave the impression they were not bothered about serving their term.

“They were anxious to become candidates before the elections but after they were elected, they don’t seem to be very serious about them serving the people.

“I will have to talk to the MPs about it,” said the prime minister.

Yesterday, the Dewan Rakyat sitting was delayed by two minutes after the prayer was read when the number of MPs present did not meet the quorum.

The motion over the lack of quorum was raised by Abdul Rahman Mohamad (BN-Lipis), when Dewan Rakyat Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof invited Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik to give a reply to the first oral question from Hassan Bahrom (PH-Tampin).

The quorum for a sitting is 26 members.

When asked if the MPs were being rebellious, Dr Mahathir said there are many other ways of expressing their views.

“If they don’t like me, then they can say so openly. I’m open to criticism. When we become a leader, we must expect this.”

Ariff, who was informed of the matter, later personally counted twice before finding there were only 24 MPs present.

This forced Ariff to direct the sergeant-at-arms to ring the bell again to remind the MPs to enter the hall to attend the meeting.

After the bell was sounded, four more MPs entered the hall.

Subang MP Wong Chen, in his Facebook page, said: “We need 26 (MPs) to proceed. The sitting was suspended for two minutes. The proceedings then continued with 28 MPs this morning with only one minister present and five deputy ministers. The government needs to buck up.” – November 21, 2019.

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Comments

  • MPs should be paid less fixed pay and more Attendance allowance so that those who don't attend will lose out badly financially. Cut pay by half and put that into allowance, to be paid when they clock in and out for a full day. Simple solution to stop lazy MPs who fail their rakyat

    Posted 6 years ago by Mike Mok · Reply

  • The perks for Malaysian MPs are too much. High salary and allowances and pension for life after they served just one term is too good to refuse. Thats why everyone is scrambling for MP positions. There should not be any pension if they served only one term then you will see whether you have as many People scrambling for MP positions.

    Posted 6 years ago by Elyse Gim · Reply

  • Given the poor economic and financial situation in the country, the government should embark on a cost cutting initiative starting with the PM all the way down to MPs.
    There must be a pay cut because the MPs are not doing enough for society. People are still suffering. So how much of the allocation given to MPs is cascaded to the grassroots.
    MPs must be judged based on their performance or KPIs. And if they cant achieve their set KPIs , not only should their salaries and allowances be slashed but their allocations must also be reduced to address on critical projects.. if the people complain, then the government can punt the finger at the MP because he has not be doing his job. At the next election, he will be out.. that is the democratic process to eliminate non performers.
    The government is wasting too much money on these imbeciles. Look at the Batu MP. It has been reported that he already utilised his RM1.5million allocation for the Rakyat. Any yet the Rakyat is screaming what he has done? The MACC should investigate this 21-year kid. He apparently now drives around in a Toyota Alphard!! How absurd is that.. PH government better buck up. You dont have much time to show any results to convince the people. You are already on a downtrend because your non performers out-way the performers.. I dont think a cabinet reshuffle will make any difference now - its just a cosmetic job!

    Posted 6 years ago by Kampung Boy · Reply

  • The PM should publish the attendance of all MP so that their voters can deal with them.

    Posted 6 years ago by Alex Liew · Reply