First session of Parliament concludes with many changes
NST (1/6/08): The first session of the 12th Parliament opened on April 28 with many changes. Various quarters are relieved that the 16-day session ended on Thursday before resuming in June.
It was punctuated with high drama, surprises and antics from the MPs, of whom 99 were first-time legislators.
Many opposition and government MPs fought for the opportunity to drive home their points during debates, probably prompted by the live telecasts of them beamed by RTM1 for 30 minutes.
The first session attracted a lot of attention because the Barisan Nasional (BN) was returned to power in the March 8 general election with only a simple majority winning 140 seats with the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) alliance of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), DAP and PAS grabbing 81 seats while another seat went to an Independent candidate.
With a bigger opposition bench, Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia and his deputies, Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar and Datuk Ronald Kiandee, faced a daunting task in dealing with the point of order raised time and again by MPs on the first day of the question and answer session.
Eventually, only three questions could be answered by the government during the question time before it moved on with the debate on the royal address.
"This is because everybody wants to be on television,” was Datuk Ibrahim Ali’s (Independent-Pasir Mas) take on what happened.
Ibrahim was also chided by Datuk Abdul Ghapur Salleh (BN-Kalabakan) for not wearing a lounge suit as required during the swearing-in ceremony.
However, Pandikar said the ruling did not apply to Ibrahim as an Independent MP he did not have a Chief Whip to remind him.
Ibrahim quipped, “Congratulations, Speaker sir, you are a learned man.”
Datuk Anifah Aman (BN-Kimanis) and Abdul Ghapur also warned BN leaders that the political tsunami experienced by the coalition in the general election would become even worse for it if the problems faced by Sabahans were not dealt with.
"It does not mean that when we champion the aspirations of the people, we are going against the government. It does not mean that when use strong words we want to jump ship. What we are telling the Dewan, the people of Sabah will not jump ship like in five states in the peninsula,” said Anifah.
In another breath, he said it was not impossible to “move from a bungalow to a terrace house if you are given enough space. Never mind a terrace house if you are accorded the same facilities but in a bungalow you are made to sleep beside the toilet,” he said in referring to the raw deal Sabahans were getting from the federal government.
Talk that some BN MPs from Sabah would jump ship became rife after PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had time and again expounded that the opposition would form the government with the defection of disgruntled BN MPs from Sabah.
Speaking to the press outside the Dewan Rakyat, Abdul Rahman Dahalan (BN-Kota Belud) lent weight to the talk by saying that he was offered benefits which could last three generations if he were to defect to PKR.
He lodged reports with the Anti-Corruption Agency in Sabah and Kuala Lumpur.
The Dewan Rakyat sitting also saw both BN and opposition MPs trading inauspicious remarks like `Projek Babi Negara’ by Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) when he reacted to Khairy Jamaluddin’s (BN-Rembau) insinuation on PKR accronym as “Projek Khinzir Raksasa”. At another time, the Dewan Rakyat was interrupted for 10 minutes when Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Idris Haron said a Tamil word `ukkar’ (sit down) but some MPs said it could become a vulgar word if wrongly pronounced.
N. Gobalakrishnan (PKR-Padang Serai) was reproached when he approached the speaker’s bench and whispered the meaning of the word to him.
On another occasion, Gobalakrishnan brought P Waythamoorthy’s six-year-old daughter to Parliament’s lobby to celebrate her birthday.
Waythamoorthy is one of the leaders of the Hindraf organisation and is on self-imposed exile overseas following the detention of five of its other leaders under the Internal Security Act.
Ibrahim, meanwhile, had the misfortune of being mobbed in Parliament’s lobby by about 30 disabled people who took exception to his remarks against wheelchair-bound Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) for not standing up when raising a point of order.
On seeing this, Datuk Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan,) who is also the Backbencher’s Club deputy chairman, pointed out the need to tighten security in the Dewan Rakyat.
Unlike before, Parliament’s car park was full during the session while the media centre was crowded as more reporters were assigned to cover the developments at the august house.
As for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, they were seen working at their offices at the Dewan Rakyat when their presence was not required.
On Wednesday, for the first time, a supply bill was approved through block voting - 92 Barisan Nasional MPs voted in favour of the bill, 60 opposition MPs voted against it while another did not cast his vote.
The Supplementary Supply Bill 2008 (2007) on the provision to the statutory fund an amount of RM16.810 billion was earlier debated at the committee stage.
The decision to call for block voting caused many MPs including Abdullah and Najib to rush into the Dewan Rakyat when the bell was rang.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz was also seen calling the MPs to come back to the house.
When Wan Junaidi announced that a lone MP did not register his vote, many MPs turned their heads towards Ibrahim Ali.
Several opposition MPs quipped that they might be lucky the next time. (Ahmad Shukran Shaharuddin - Bernama)
It was punctuated with high drama, surprises and antics from the MPs, of whom 99 were first-time legislators.
Many opposition and government MPs fought for the opportunity to drive home their points during debates, probably prompted by the live telecasts of them beamed by RTM1 for 30 minutes.
The first session attracted a lot of attention because the Barisan Nasional (BN) was returned to power in the March 8 general election with only a simple majority winning 140 seats with the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) alliance of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), DAP and PAS grabbing 81 seats while another seat went to an Independent candidate.
With a bigger opposition bench, Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia and his deputies, Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar and Datuk Ronald Kiandee, faced a daunting task in dealing with the point of order raised time and again by MPs on the first day of the question and answer session.
Eventually, only three questions could be answered by the government during the question time before it moved on with the debate on the royal address.
"This is because everybody wants to be on television,” was Datuk Ibrahim Ali’s (Independent-Pasir Mas) take on what happened.
Ibrahim was also chided by Datuk Abdul Ghapur Salleh (BN-Kalabakan) for not wearing a lounge suit as required during the swearing-in ceremony.
However, Pandikar said the ruling did not apply to Ibrahim as an Independent MP he did not have a Chief Whip to remind him.
Ibrahim quipped, “Congratulations, Speaker sir, you are a learned man.”
Datuk Anifah Aman (BN-Kimanis) and Abdul Ghapur also warned BN leaders that the political tsunami experienced by the coalition in the general election would become even worse for it if the problems faced by Sabahans were not dealt with.
"It does not mean that when we champion the aspirations of the people, we are going against the government. It does not mean that when use strong words we want to jump ship. What we are telling the Dewan, the people of Sabah will not jump ship like in five states in the peninsula,” said Anifah.
In another breath, he said it was not impossible to “move from a bungalow to a terrace house if you are given enough space. Never mind a terrace house if you are accorded the same facilities but in a bungalow you are made to sleep beside the toilet,” he said in referring to the raw deal Sabahans were getting from the federal government.
Talk that some BN MPs from Sabah would jump ship became rife after PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had time and again expounded that the opposition would form the government with the defection of disgruntled BN MPs from Sabah.
Speaking to the press outside the Dewan Rakyat, Abdul Rahman Dahalan (BN-Kota Belud) lent weight to the talk by saying that he was offered benefits which could last three generations if he were to defect to PKR.
He lodged reports with the Anti-Corruption Agency in Sabah and Kuala Lumpur.
The Dewan Rakyat sitting also saw both BN and opposition MPs trading inauspicious remarks like `Projek Babi Negara’ by Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) when he reacted to Khairy Jamaluddin’s (BN-Rembau) insinuation on PKR accronym as “Projek Khinzir Raksasa”. At another time, the Dewan Rakyat was interrupted for 10 minutes when Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Idris Haron said a Tamil word `ukkar’ (sit down) but some MPs said it could become a vulgar word if wrongly pronounced.
N. Gobalakrishnan (PKR-Padang Serai) was reproached when he approached the speaker’s bench and whispered the meaning of the word to him.
On another occasion, Gobalakrishnan brought P Waythamoorthy’s six-year-old daughter to Parliament’s lobby to celebrate her birthday.
Waythamoorthy is one of the leaders of the Hindraf organisation and is on self-imposed exile overseas following the detention of five of its other leaders under the Internal Security Act.
Ibrahim, meanwhile, had the misfortune of being mobbed in Parliament’s lobby by about 30 disabled people who took exception to his remarks against wheelchair-bound Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) for not standing up when raising a point of order.
On seeing this, Datuk Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan,) who is also the Backbencher’s Club deputy chairman, pointed out the need to tighten security in the Dewan Rakyat.
Unlike before, Parliament’s car park was full during the session while the media centre was crowded as more reporters were assigned to cover the developments at the august house.
As for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, they were seen working at their offices at the Dewan Rakyat when their presence was not required.
On Wednesday, for the first time, a supply bill was approved through block voting - 92 Barisan Nasional MPs voted in favour of the bill, 60 opposition MPs voted against it while another did not cast his vote.
The Supplementary Supply Bill 2008 (2007) on the provision to the statutory fund an amount of RM16.810 billion was earlier debated at the committee stage.
The decision to call for block voting caused many MPs including Abdullah and Najib to rush into the Dewan Rakyat when the bell was rang.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz was also seen calling the MPs to come back to the house.
When Wan Junaidi announced that a lone MP did not register his vote, many MPs turned their heads towards Ibrahim Ali.
Several opposition MPs quipped that they might be lucky the next time. (Ahmad Shukran Shaharuddin - Bernama)
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