Govt urged to appoint backbencher chief

A BACKBENCHER chief needs to be appointed for Pakatan Harapan MPs to ensure quorum is achieved for Dewan Rakyat sessions, said Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad ( pix).

He said bringing up the issue of attendance was a “cheap shot” by the Opposition as the failure to achieve quorum in the House on Tuesday also meant there were insufficient numbers of opposition MPs.

“Quorum is the responsibility of both government and the Opposition. This is not something to play around with,” he said, while admitting that he was also absent that day.

“I received an official visit from the Perak MB relating to Sukma 19. There are 39 days to go for Sukma. The meeting was held at 12pm in Putrajaya.”

The Dewan Rakyat was forced to halt proceedings temporarily on Tuesday as there was no quorum. The delay only lasted several minutes but the matter was widely spread on social media.

Pictures tweeted by Tan Sri Annuar Musa (BN-Ketereh) at various times showed an almost empty hall.

Under Standing Orders 13, there must be at least 26 MPs in the 222-seat Dewan to allow proceedings to be held.

PKR chief whip Datuk Johari Abdul told reporters that Pakatan Harapan backbenchers had to attend a pre-council meeting in one of the committee rooms in Parliament.

Some were on their way to the Dewan when they heard the second bell, he said.