NOT ENOUGH QUORUM, SO HOUSE PROCEEDINGS POSTPONED 10 MINUTES
MPs meet quorum only after Dewan Rakyat speaker rings second bell
ADAY after Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad voiced his disapproval with the poor attendance of his ministers and deputy ministers in the Dewan Rakyat, the house proceedings had to be postponed for five minutes due to a lack of quorum.
The bell, signalling the beginning of the afternoon session, rang at 2.30pm and Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali (Independent-Bagan Serai) was just about to resume his debate on the royal address when Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi (PBB-Kapit) stood up and asked Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof on whether there were enough members of parliament in the hall to meet the quorum.
“Is the quorum enough?” said Alexander, without saying how many members of parliament were absent.
Taking a long glance around Parliament, Ariff announced that the session was postponed for 10 minutes.
During the recess, Datuk Seri Ismail Mohamed Said (BN-Kuala Krau) said: “The prime minister had raised this matter earlier.”
On Monday, Dr Mahathir expressed his disapproval with the poor attendance of ministers and deputy ministers in the Dewan Rakyat proceedings.
However, the 10-minute break was reduced to five minutes when the bell, given a lengthy ringing period, saw members of parliament walking into the hall.
Ariff announced that there were 35 members of parliament in the hall, which meant that proceedings could continue.
There are 222 members of parliament.