KUALA LUMPUR – The evening session of Dewan Rakyat today was delayed a few minutes after only 19 MPs were present in the august House, short of the minimum quorum required to hold proceedings.
Standing Order 13(1) of the Dewan Rakyat stipulates there must be at least 26 MPs in the 222-seat House to allow proceedings to be held.
Cha Kee Chin (Rasah-PH) was the first to notice the lack of MPs after the House resumed at 2.30pm following a lunch break.
“Based on my observation, there are not enough (MPs). I ask that the Dewan Rakyat secretary to conduct a check, especially among government backbenchers, ministers and deputy ministers.
“I can only see about four or five lawmakers from that side,” he said today.
Following a head count, Deputy Speaker Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon announced that only 19 MPs were present in the House, and ordered the Parliament staff to ring the bell to summon lawmakers into the chambers.
Loceng dewan perlu dibunyikan 2 kali & dewan rakyat tertangguh sementara kerana kuorom tidak cukup.
— Syed Saddiq (@SyedSaddiq) September 21, 2021
Kehadiran Muar masih 100%.
Amanah dari rakyat akan saya laksanakan dengan baik.
Di parlimen, saya fokus isu rakyat.
Pekerjaan, pendidikan, kos sara hidup, good governance etc. pic.twitter.com/CORVPkKuWA
The meeting was suspended for an additional two minutes before being allowed to resume after it was determined that there were 27 MPs in the House.
Since the start of the current parliamentary sitting last week, the Dewan Rakyat has consistently recorded a low number of MPs present, including the session involving opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s debate on the royal address.
This is not the first time the House has seen a lack of quorum in recent years.
During Pakatan Harapan’s time in power, the Dewan Rakyat twice faced a similar issue, once in October 2019 and another the following month.
In August last year, proceedings were again interrupted briefly due to a lack of quorum. – The Vibes, September 21, 2021
