THE government narrowly won the debate on a portion of Budget 2018 at the committee stage by one vote in the Dewan Rakyat tonight, as chaos erupted in the house after the opposition attempted to call for a division vote when few Barisan Nasional MPs were present.

Debate on the Supply Bill’s portion for the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry had just wrapped up when G. Manivanan (PKR-Kapar) called for a division vote.

Opposition lawmakers started to shout “Close the door!” when Deputy Speaker Ronald Kiandee instructed that BN MPs be called in.

The shouting continued as some ruling coalition MPs rushed in, after which Kiandee announced that the bill was approved by bloc voting with 52 MPs voting in support, 51 against and two abstaining.

Opposition MPs protested, with Khalid Samad (Amanah-Shah Alam) shouting “Tipu! Tipu! (Lie! Lie!) before they walked out of the house.

Rafizi Ramli (PKR- Pandan) tweeted during the chaos: “Look at how the voting process in the Dewan Rakyat is exposed when ministers and BN members of parliament who are not present are still allowed into the Dewan”.

Gobind Singh Deo (DAP-Puchong) later said what just happened was a complete mockery of the house, citing Section 47 (2) of the Dewan Rakyat’s standing order, which mentions the process of a division vote. 

“Tuan speaker, why was it allowed to happen? The whole world is watching, we can’t have justice in this Dewan. Tuan speaker can’t control the proceedings here, allowing other people to come in.

“It’s disrespect… was it not an abuse of the rules of this house?”

Kiandee, however, said no provisions of the standing orders had been breached, saying there was no mention of the time frame or votes from those who came in late should not be counted. 

Normala Abdul Samad (BN-Pasir Gudang) then said some of them had just come back from evening prayers, which prompted Khalid to rebuke her, asking her not to use religion as an excuse. 

Gobind later told reporters there were 53 MPs present from the opposition bench, but two abstained from voting. 

“You cannot say that you don’t have a time limit and you can just keep waiting until you get the necessary numbers that you need in order to see the bill through.

“I don’t think that is how one should interpret the standing orders. That’s the reason I complained to the speaker… Again, it’s one of those dark moments in parliamentary history, particularly the Dewan Rakyat.

“A vote has to be taken from members who are present in the house at the time the vote was called for.”  – November 20, 2017.