THE opposition failed to vote down the allocation for the Woman and Family Development Ministry and embarrass Putrajaya when it called for a bloc vote twice tonight.

In the first vote count, the allocation was approved with a four-vote majority after 28 opposition MPs rejected it, 

Barisan Nasional called for a second vote only to see the majority increased by 17 when more Pakatan Harapan backbenchers arrived in the chamber. The final count was 45-28.

The 45-minute drama began when BN MPs called for the vote when they believed there were not enough government backbenchers in the chamber and the  opposition did take PH by surprise.

Opposition leader Ismail Sabri called for the vote after Woman and Family Development Ministry deputy Hannah Yeoh finished replying to points raised during the committee stage debate for the ministry’s allocation.

Deputy Speaker Mohd Rashid Hasnon rang the bell and at the start of the count, it appeared that PH did not have the numbers.

But those counting the vote for the backbenchers stalled as frantic PH MPs could be seen contacting their party colleagues on their cell phones.

Most of them, it appeared had gone for dinner, which is the norm during late sittings.

It took about 20 minutes for the vote to be tallied in the first vote with several BN MPs shouting how long it took to tabulate votes from a small number of MPs present.

Emboldened by the win, the backbenchers then started taunting the BN by demanding to know where their leaders were.

“Where is Wee Jeck Seng (Tanjung Piai). Waste to vote him into parliament,” was a refrain often heard from the backbenchers.

Shamsul Anuar Nasarah (BN-Lengong) shouted back that the opposition only wanted to teach PH a lesson.

“We just want to teach you a lesson,” he said, while other said backbenchers should listen to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and attend parliament.

The house adjourned after the vote. – November 26, 2019.