KUALA LUMPUR – The Dewan Rakyat this morning briefly erupted into chaos after members of the opposition questioned who the “senior minister” who reportedly blocked Nga Kor Ming (Teluk Intan-PH) from chairing the august House was.
This is following a report by Sin Chew Daily claiming that a cabinet member had pressured Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun to rescind his invitation to Nga to preside over the afternoon session yesterday.
During the oral question-and-answer session today, Khoo Poay Tiong (Kota Melaka-PH) stood up to seek an explanation on the media report and demanded that the identity of the senior minister be revealed.
“I want an explanation who the minister who interfered and abused his power by stopping the speaker from inviting Teluk Intan to preside over the house yesterday was.
“I want to know if the senior minister is in Dewan today. I see two of them here. Is one of them the said minister? We need to know,” he said.
The senior ministers who were present during today’s morning session were Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
There are two other senior ministers in the cabinet, namely, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
Deputy Speaker Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon ignored Khoo’s demands for an answer, saying the House was in the question-and-answer session, and asked the next MP in line, Gobind Singh Deo (Puchong-PH), to forward his question.
Unimpressed, Khoo continued to press for an explanation, calling on Rashid to reveal the minister’s name.
Gobind eventually stood up, but instead of asking his prepared question, challenged Azmin to clarify if he was indeed the individual who ordered Azhar to rescind the invitation to Nga.
“I challenge Azmin, stand up and answer now. If you are a brave senior minister, stand up and answer the question now.”
Azmin responded, saying: “I am brave for abiding by parliamentary rules. This is the question-and-answer session. You as a lawyer should know.
Rashid interjected, urging the MPs to respect the House and to continue with today’s session.
Teo Nie Ching (Kulai-PH) then claimed that the unidentified senior minister is the one disrespecting the Dewan Rakyat, and questioned Rashid’s decision not to defend the House.
With no answers provided, Gobind then proceeded to ask his prepared question. – The Vibes, September 21, 2021
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