DEWAN Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul said he was seriously looking into ways to curb absenteeism among MPs when parliament is in session.

Johari said he must come up with more stringent penalties to improve MPs’ attendance, including by cutting their allowance, as they have a responsibility to their constituents.

He said there were suggestions, including from former speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof, that the Standing Orders be amended to facilitate such punishments.

“I think it is quite reasonable because we don’t have that now, meaning MPs can be free and easy. After clocking in, they leave after a while, which is not fair,” the former Gurun assemblyman said, adding he was willing to improve transparency by putting MPs’ attendance records on the parliament website.

“But I have to look into the legal part to see whether it is possible… Personally, I think it should be, but as I said, I have to look into the mechanism and the law as well as the Standing Orders before invoking such an action,” he said at the Concorde Club forum today.

The Concorde Club forum is an informal gathering of editors and senior journalists with key policymakers. Among those present today was newly appointed Bernama chairman Wong Chun Wai.

On August 29, Johari was mulling docking MPs’ allowances to deter absenteeism. He said sometimes MPs were absent for days, but he did not have the authority to penalise them, although they are paid RM500 daily.

Johari hoped the upcoming parliamentary session, which begins Monday, would be filled with quality debates and ideas for nation-building. – Bernama, October 6, 2023.