KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 – The Dewan Rakyat sitting this week saw unity among the Barisan National (BN) members of parliament (MPs), especially with the government’s success in thwarting the opposition pact’s efforts to reject the 2016 Supply Bill. The BN MPs proved their loyalty by giving full support for the approval of the bill at policy level on Monday.
In addition, the issue on the usage of English in the Dewan Rakyat, the murder of Bernard Then Ted Fen and the meeting of Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar with Jacel Kiram, the daughter of self-styled Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III – the man who ordered a terrorist invasion of Lahad Datu (Sabah) in 2013 – were also among those that attracted the attention of the MPs, inside or outside the sitting.
The first day of this week witnessed the opposition pact emerging empty-handed when its intention to sabotage the 2016 Supply Bill did not materialise upon approval at policy level by a large number of votes. A total of 128 MPs agreed that the bill be approved to be fixed for second reading, compared to 74 who rejected.
A block division voting was conducted by Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia after several MPs from opposition parties demanded that it be carried out. The bill was aimed at allocating RM267.22 billion for government expenditure in 2016. The bill will only be fully approved after the debate and winding-up at the committee level and read for the third time.
The bill was being debated and wound up at the committee level, beginning with the Prime Minister’s Department on Tuesday, followed by the finance, foreign and the plantation industries and commodities ministries on Wednesday. On Friday, it involved the agriculture and agro-based industries, rural and regional development and the natural resources and environment ministries.
During the debate, numerous issues were raised by MPs from the government and also the opposition, with the most contentious being the issue on the use of English during sittings. Chong Chieng Jen forwarded a question on the rights of parliamentarians from Sabah and Sarawak to speak in English, during the debate on the 2016 Supply Bill at committee stage for the Prime Minister’s Department.
He said the right was enshrined in the Malaysian Constitution but his action resulted in a spat with several other mpS. Deputy Speaker Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee reprimanded Chong’s action, saying only Bahasa Malaysia was allowed to be used in the Dewan Rakyat and a speech in English was only allowed at the consent of the Speaker.
There were two issues involving the security of the nation’s waters in Sabah, namely, Then’s killing on Nov 17 and Nurul Izzah’s meeting with Jacel. The Dewan Rakyat, too, expressed sympathy to the family of Then, who was believed to have been beheaded by Abu Sayyaf militants on Jolo Island in the southern Philippines, following his kidnap by four armed men in Sandakan, Sabah in May.
During the debate involving the foreign ministry, several MPs had raised the issue of security and enforcement in the national waters, especially in Sabah, and hoped the matter did not recur. In the Parliament lobby, the second Sabah-related issue surfaced yesterday over Nurul Izzah’s meeting with Jacel.
Pictures of the meeting went viral on the social media when Jacel uploaded them in her Facebook account on Nov 9, resulting in Sabah MPs being the most strident in criticising Nurul Izzah, describing her as disrespectful to the sensitivities of Malaysians, especially in Sabah, who were still devastated by the bloody incident.
Nurul Izzah then admitted to the meeting and, in a follow-up, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the government was mulling over referring the MP to the Parliamentary Rights and Privileges Committee. The Dewan Rakyat sitting this time will end on Dec 3.
