KUALA LUMPUR – The winding-up speech by Special Functions Minister Datuk Abdul Latiff Ahmad (Mersing-Bersatu) in the Dewan Rakyat special sitting today was overshadowed by a shouting match between MPs, which took up almost the entire time allocated to him.
Much of the ruckus was focused on the minister’s apparent evasion of pressing questions on the government’s handling of the floods.
Things came to a head when Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (Pasir Salak-BN) got involved, slamming the opposition for being “bullies”, and questioning their own standard and quality.
Latiff’s remarks in the opening minute of his speech already had several MPs scratching their heads when he said that lawmakers are patient people as they have to put up with the wants (kerenah) of their voters.
He then gave a technical explanation of how the recent floods occurred and said it is not the government’s place to take on God’s role, in response to the gravity of the disaster.
After that, Latiff clarified the figures of deaths and flood victims provided by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob earlier today and later questioned by opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
It was after a brief back-and-forth between Latiff and Anwar that things started to get heated, with Gobind Singh Deo (Puchong-PH) demanding the former to stop beating around the bush and to explain the efforts to be taken to ensure the disaster does not repeat.
As the minister attempted to answer, Gobind interjected, saying: “In this case, over 50 people died, and thousands of houses were damaged. What are you going to do?”
Latiff replied: “If I am not given the opportunity to reply to everything that was raised, seeing that I only have 20 minutes allocated to me, I will do it in writing.”
He proceeded to talk about if the government has plans to permanently relocate those living in flood-prone areas.
At this point, Khalid Samad (Shah Alam-PH) noted that Latiff only had less than a minute left on the clock, and urged the minister to address more pressing issues.
“What is most important is that we take all your views, and the prime minister will form a committee to review these suggestions for the future,” Latiff said.
Gobind then asked about proposals from the government’s side, while Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (Kuala Selangor-PH) questioned the minister’s ability to work.
“If you can’t answer in a few sentences, this means you don’t know your job. Answer the questions, short and sharp!” he said.
Latiff attempted to answer him, saying that the government needed a “source of power” to ensure improvements to its flood management.
This riled several opposition MPs who questioned if the government itself does not have the power to implement the necessary plans.
RSN Rayer (Jelutong-PH) took a dig at Latiff, saying the country is doomed if this was the quality of the minister, while M. Kula Segaran (Ipoh Barat-PH) called on him to resign for his incompetency.
Having heard enough, Tajuddin then stepped in and accused the opposition of bullying the minister for not allowing him any room to answer questions.
“It’s not fair, it’s not fair. You are trying to bully him, come on man. What is this? He has answered so many questions, why are you bullying him? What quality do you have?
“He has answered and you say he hasn’t. You say the government is not good. When you were in power, were you any better? I’ve been here very long, don’t act smart. When you were ministers, what did you do?
“I know all of you, I know your standard, your quality,” he shouted.
After a few more minutes of ruckus, Latiff was told to wrap up his speech and provide a written answer for the other questions not touched yet. – The Vibes, January 20, 2022
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