Ruckus in the hall over call for bloc voting

DEWAN Rakyat proceedings were temporarily halted after the Opposition called for bloc voting on a motion for the Parliament not to adjourn until the disposal of two bills as stated in the Order Paper.

Perikatan Nasional parliamentary whip chief Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan (PN-Kota Baru) questioned why there were only two bills listed in the order paper.

“Looking at today’s schedule, there are only two bills from the Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Ministry and they only contain one amendment.

“We have seven days left in the Dewan Rakyat, does the government not have any bills left? Is the government planning to spring a surprise like amendments to the Insolvency Act where the first reading was on May 22 and it was debated and passed the following day?” said Takiyuddin.

The lawmaker then hit out at the government, saying that ministries were perhaps busy watching the film Anwar: The Untold Story which he called “The Unsold Story”.

Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim (PN-Arau) stood to ask whether the government would proceed to debate on the Private Members Bill once its bills were debated.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs, and Special Functions) Datuk Wilson Ugak Kumbong then tabled a motion for proceedings not to adjourn until debates on the Renewable Energy (Amendment) Bill 2023 and the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (Amendment) Bill 2023 were completed.

Immediately after, Takiyuddin called for bloc voting.

Temporary chaos ensued when the Deputy Speaker Datuk Ramli Mohd Nor ordered the bell to be rung for two minutes to notify MPs to come in to vote.

Several shouts were heard, claiming that the government might not have enough numbers and the motion would be defeated.

Ramli then announced an extra 10 minutes for MPs to be present when bloc votes were called.

Shahidan stood up to ask why the votes weren’t being counted at that time.

While the ballot counting process was under way, another ruckus started when RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong) said some government MPs were unable to come to the Dewan Rakyat as they had other meetings to attend, urging the Deputy Speaker not to close the door.

Datuk Awang Hashim (PN-Pendang) interjected, saying that Ramli should not entertain the call and asked for the doors to be closed.

“When they were in the Opposition, they asked for the doors to be closed. Let’s make that a convention,” he said, before Ramli ordered for the doors to be shut.

The Opposition’s attempt to block the motion failed after Ramli announced that 83 MPs agreed to proceed with government business in the Order Paper, with 52 MPs opposing and 86 absent, with one (Ramli) not voting as he was chairing as the deputy speaker.

At the Parliament lobby, Takiyuddin claimed that the government bloc was being unfair towards the Opposition for not debating the motions it had put forward.