Let it be a lesson, says Wee

Low MP turnout almost cost ministry its budget allocation

DATUK Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong hopes the government has learnt its lesson after the allocation for the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry was nearly defeated.

The MCA president said it was the government’s duty to ensure they have enough MPs to endorse the allocation.

“Out of 127 government lawmakers, why can’t you get 40 to 60 MPs at any one time in the House if you don’t want the Opposition to ambush you?” he asked at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

Dr Wee, who is Ayer Hitam MP, added that it was the duty of the Opposition MPs to keep the government on its toes.

“It is our duty to teach them a lesson, and I hope they have learnt their lesson,” he said and rubbished the “excuses” given to justify Pakatan Harapan MPs’ absence during voting on the Budget.

“There is no excuse for them to say they are new and have no experience or fatigued. To me, this is rubbish and nonsense.

“Don’t find excuses for your weaknesses,” he said on claims by some Pakatan lawmakers accusing Barisan MPs of trying to scuttle the allocation.

“If you (the government) care for the people, you must get as many MPs to attend Dewan Rakyat to ensure that you can pass Budget 2020 as planned, instead of blaming the Opposition for not wanting the ministry to give money to the physically challenged and what-not,” he said.

The allocation was nearly defeated on Tuesday after Opposition MPs called for a bloc vote twice when they noticed they outnumbered Pakatan.

During the first count, 32 MPs voted in support while 28 rejected it.

However, the final bloc vote saw 45 MPs supported the allocation while the Opposition’s votes remained 28.

PKR parliamentary chief whip Datuk Johari Abdul meanwhile cited fatigue as among the reasons causing Pakatan MPs to be absent from Dewan Rakyat proceedings.

“In this Budget session, we always finish late, usually around 10pm or 10.30pm. When you get home, it’s about 12am and after you shower it’s about 1am. After you say ‘hi’ to your wife, its 1.30am.

“So, when you wake up, sometimes you are a bit late to the morning session. So, it’s fatigue.

“We have to probably discuss with the Speaker to see how MPs can have more quality time,” he said.

Johari added that the bloc voting was a tactic they did to Barisan last time around.

“We always ‘ambush’ them too. So, they did the same to us,” he said.

“But this time around, we are aware of what’s going on.”