Witty repartee doesn’t always translate to good debate
The Edge Daily (2/6/08): Some people expected the quality of debates in parliament to improve with more opposition members of parliament (MPs) to watch over the government. Undeniably, the Dewan Rakyat has become more interesting - but it is difficult to tell if the quality of debates has improved.
The first day of parliament was already marred by boyish antics from both the government and opposition camps. In a heated exchange over some technicalities, Karpal Singh (Bukit Gelugor-DAP) labelled Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (Kinabatangan-BN) as “bigfoot”, and the latter responded in kind by calling Karpal “big monkey”.
Although such incidents are not unusual in the Dewan Rakyat, the matter was compounded by the fact that the first half hour of the parliament session was telecast live for the first time nationwide.
Some consider this as entertainment which one can expect from parliament, while others feel embarrassed, so much so that the Information Ministry threatened to stop the live telecast. In the end, the government decided to proceed with the broadcast.
However, the opposition has continuously engaged the government in name-calling and mud-slinging throughout the sessions.
Be that as it may, there was a lot of creativity flowing from the ranks of Pakatan Rakyat, especially Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice-president Azmin Ali (Gombak-PKR), who made a memorable remark in one of his speeches.
Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin (Rembau-BN), he said: “Since when does Umno care about “ketuanan Melayu” (Malay supremacy), when all this while it only practised “ketuanan menantu” (son-in-law’s supremacy)?”
When it came to Khairy’s turn to speak, the Umno Youth deputy chief tried to get his revenge by sowing the seed of disunity in the opposition camp, targeted at staunchly Islamic PAS MPs, by playing up the pig farm issue in Selangor.
He also said Pakatan Rakyat was just a “public relations” stunt among parties with different ideologies to pull wool over people’s eyes.
Calling PAS a “junior partner” in Pakatan Rakyat, he claimed that the PKR-led Selangor state government was giving more priority to “Projek Khinzir Raksasa” (mammoth pig project), which is a play on the acronym “PKR”.
Khairy’s remarks managed to rile up several PAS MPs, who pointed out that the project was actually approved by the previous state government led by Umno.
Not to be outdone by Khairy, Mahfuz Omar (Pokok Sena-PAS) said it was actually “Projek Babi Negara” (National Pig Project), which is a twist on the Barisan Nasional’s acronym.
Khairy appeared to be a favourite target of the opposition’s stinging attacks, as DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang (Ipoh Timur-DAP) had earlier called him the “richest unemployed in the world” for being able to acquire and sell a lot of shares in ECM Libra.
Lim also challenged Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir (Jerlun-BN), who is the youngest son of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, to answer on his father’s behalf.
“Isn’t Dr Mahathir’s administration known for KKN? Does the honourable Jerlun MP know what KKN is? The first K stands for kronisme (cronyism), the second K for korupsi (corruption) and the N for nepotisme (nepotism),” he said.
Even the demure Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (Permatang Pauh-PKR) displayed her mettle as an Opposition Leader in the debate on the motion of thanks on the royal address, by hurling various accusations against the government.
She tried to implicate Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also the defence minister, by alleging corruption in the procurement of military equipment, such as Scorpene submarines and Sukhoi fighter jets.
Najib also hogged the limelight as popular blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin was charged with sedition for his article, which contained allegations linking the deputy prime minister and his wife to the murder of Altantuya Shaaribuu.
Despite the prevalence of playground antics, the Dewan Rakyat still managed to hear an array of issues of public interest, ranging from food security to highway concessions.
While it is heartening to note that many MPs took the opportunity to raise many issues while debating the motion of thanks on the royal address, their skills on real policy matters are not really tested this round.
The real occasion for law-making only came in the fourth week when they debated the Supplementary Supply Bill and the Pensions (Amendments) Bill. Alas, the two bills had to be rushed through the Dewan Rakyat.
In a nutshell, it is still too early to tell whether parliamentary debates are better now, as mud-slinging and name-calling seem to have moved to a new level.
On a more positive note, the government is trying to become more responsive to certain issues judging from certain pronouncements made in parliament. Some BN MPs are also becoming more vocal on issues such as minority rights, corruption and independence of the judiciary.
For example, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has even been accused by some backbenchers from his own camp of being “an opposition minister” and “realising the opposition’s manifesto” for his plans to reform the judiciary.
The government also announced that it would consider taking over highway concessions or review the toll charges to reduce the financial burden on the people.
In fact, Abdullah himself was seen sitting in the Dewan Rakyat to observe parliamentary proceedings until as late as 11pm on one occasion.
At the end of the day, regardless of the quality of debates in parliament, the more important objective of parliamentary democracy is to ensure that the government is honest and responsive.
The first day of parliament was already marred by boyish antics from both the government and opposition camps. In a heated exchange over some technicalities, Karpal Singh (Bukit Gelugor-DAP) labelled Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (Kinabatangan-BN) as “bigfoot”, and the latter responded in kind by calling Karpal “big monkey”.
Although such incidents are not unusual in the Dewan Rakyat, the matter was compounded by the fact that the first half hour of the parliament session was telecast live for the first time nationwide.
Some consider this as entertainment which one can expect from parliament, while others feel embarrassed, so much so that the Information Ministry threatened to stop the live telecast. In the end, the government decided to proceed with the broadcast.
However, the opposition has continuously engaged the government in name-calling and mud-slinging throughout the sessions.
Be that as it may, there was a lot of creativity flowing from the ranks of Pakatan Rakyat, especially Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice-president Azmin Ali (Gombak-PKR), who made a memorable remark in one of his speeches.
Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin (Rembau-BN), he said: “Since when does Umno care about “ketuanan Melayu” (Malay supremacy), when all this while it only practised “ketuanan menantu” (son-in-law’s supremacy)?”
When it came to Khairy’s turn to speak, the Umno Youth deputy chief tried to get his revenge by sowing the seed of disunity in the opposition camp, targeted at staunchly Islamic PAS MPs, by playing up the pig farm issue in Selangor.
He also said Pakatan Rakyat was just a “public relations” stunt among parties with different ideologies to pull wool over people’s eyes.
Calling PAS a “junior partner” in Pakatan Rakyat, he claimed that the PKR-led Selangor state government was giving more priority to “Projek Khinzir Raksasa” (mammoth pig project), which is a play on the acronym “PKR”.
Khairy’s remarks managed to rile up several PAS MPs, who pointed out that the project was actually approved by the previous state government led by Umno.
Not to be outdone by Khairy, Mahfuz Omar (Pokok Sena-PAS) said it was actually “Projek Babi Negara” (National Pig Project), which is a twist on the Barisan Nasional’s acronym.
Khairy appeared to be a favourite target of the opposition’s stinging attacks, as DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang (Ipoh Timur-DAP) had earlier called him the “richest unemployed in the world” for being able to acquire and sell a lot of shares in ECM Libra.
Lim also challenged Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir (Jerlun-BN), who is the youngest son of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, to answer on his father’s behalf.
“Isn’t Dr Mahathir’s administration known for KKN? Does the honourable Jerlun MP know what KKN is? The first K stands for kronisme (cronyism), the second K for korupsi (corruption) and the N for nepotisme (nepotism),” he said.
Even the demure Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (Permatang Pauh-PKR) displayed her mettle as an Opposition Leader in the debate on the motion of thanks on the royal address, by hurling various accusations against the government.
She tried to implicate Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also the defence minister, by alleging corruption in the procurement of military equipment, such as Scorpene submarines and Sukhoi fighter jets.
Najib also hogged the limelight as popular blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin was charged with sedition for his article, which contained allegations linking the deputy prime minister and his wife to the murder of Altantuya Shaaribuu.
Despite the prevalence of playground antics, the Dewan Rakyat still managed to hear an array of issues of public interest, ranging from food security to highway concessions.
While it is heartening to note that many MPs took the opportunity to raise many issues while debating the motion of thanks on the royal address, their skills on real policy matters are not really tested this round.
The real occasion for law-making only came in the fourth week when they debated the Supplementary Supply Bill and the Pensions (Amendments) Bill. Alas, the two bills had to be rushed through the Dewan Rakyat.
In a nutshell, it is still too early to tell whether parliamentary debates are better now, as mud-slinging and name-calling seem to have moved to a new level.
On a more positive note, the government is trying to become more responsive to certain issues judging from certain pronouncements made in parliament. Some BN MPs are also becoming more vocal on issues such as minority rights, corruption and independence of the judiciary.
For example, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has even been accused by some backbenchers from his own camp of being “an opposition minister” and “realising the opposition’s manifesto” for his plans to reform the judiciary.
The government also announced that it would consider taking over highway concessions or review the toll charges to reduce the financial burden on the people.
In fact, Abdullah himself was seen sitting in the Dewan Rakyat to observe parliamentary proceedings until as late as 11pm on one occasion.
At the end of the day, regardless of the quality of debates in parliament, the more important objective of parliamentary democracy is to ensure that the government is honest and responsive.
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