KUALA LUMPUR – The absence of three top Perikatan Nasional (PN) leaders from all of the Prime Minister’s Question Time (PMQT) sessions in Parliament can be viewed as a sign of disrespect to their voters’ mandate, political observers said.
However, this and the opposition coalition’s parliamentary performance to date – described by one analyst as populist and deliberately disruptive – will do little to sway public support, thanks to their staunch and highly partisan supporters.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia academician Kartini Aboo Talib said while Dewan Rakyat absenteeism can be perceived as passive resistance against the government – a move some Pakatan Harapan lawmakers have previously been guilty of – it still sends the wrong message to voters.
“To be fair to the people who elected them, their action of missing parliamentary meetings reflects their inability to carry out their duties or can be seen as a breach of the people’s trust,” she told The Vibes.
Regardless, Kartini believes voters partisan to PN will continue throwing their support behind the coalition.
“They will evaluate such actions (skipping PMQTs) as rejecting the unity government, and as such, feel they are justified,” she said.
The academician also said she believes the absence of PN’s top leaders from many of the parliamentary sessions would have no bearing on the outcome of the coming state elections, stressing that results would instead be influenced by other more crucial factors.
She cited Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli as an example, noting how political rivals’ attempts at undermining the PKR deputy chief’s chances in the last general election by highlighting his poor parliamentary attendance previously bore no fruit.
“Look at where he is now. So no effect whatsoever, particularly on the more diehard supporters.”
Kartini was asked to comment on the absence of PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (Pagoh-PN), PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang (Marang-PN), and opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin (Larut-PN) from all eight of the PMQT sessions throughout the just-concluded Dewan Rakyat meeting.
PN’s confidence
In a Facebook post yesterday, Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil slammed PN’s top leaders for their repeated absences during the time slot dedicated for the prime minister to address questions posed by politicians from both sides of the divide
Fahmi said it was a missed opportunity by the opposition’s top guns to press and confront the prime minister through supplementary questions.
Jumping to the defence of his coalition leaders, Bersatu’s Tasek Gelugor MP Wan Saiful Wan Jan said they are typically unable to even pose questions to Anwar, as only questions approved by the speaker are allowed to be raised in the House.
He also accused Anwar’s responses in the House of being of low quality, causing many people to lose interest in listening.
Singapore Institute of International Affairs senior fellow Oh Ei Sun said the absence of the three PN heads during the PMQT could be due to their confidence in victory in the coming state polls.
This is despite PN’s parliamentary performance, which Oh described as being a mixture of deliberate disruptions of proceedings by some of the more junior MPs employing harsh rhetoric and tactics, and “populist” proposals such as on the Employees Provident Fund withdrawals.
“I think they are supremely confident of sweeping most, if not all, of the states in the coming state elections.
“This is because they could get an easy ride on the continued surge of the green wave. And if they do win overwhelmingly in the state elections, then very soon, it could be bye-bye Anwar.”
Selangor, Penang, Negri Sembilan, Kelantan, Kedah, and Terengganu are scheduled to dissolve their state assemblies within the next few months.
On social media, meanwhile, reports of the top PN leaders’ absence drew ire on Twitter, with some users saying that such MPs should have their salaries and allowances deducted since they were not “doing their jobs”. – The Vibes, April 6, 2023
