Dewan Rakyat temporarily halted again after only 18 MPs present in 222-seat House

KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat proceedings were temporarily halted again on Wednesday (Oct 25) afternoon as there were only 18 MPs in the House.

According to Standing Orders 13(1), there must be at least 26 MPs in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat if proceedings are to be held.

The incident occurred when Onn Abu Bakar (PH-Batu Pahat) was giving his speech on Budget 2024 and Mohd Misbahul Munir Masduki (PN-Parit Buntar) pointed out the lack of quorum in the House.

Mohd Misbahul stood up and raised Standing Orders 13(1), to which Deputy Speaker Alice Lau then ordered a head count.

“There were 18 MPs here and there were merely 7 government backbencher MPs here,” said Mohd Misbahul.

Chong Chieng Jen (PH-Stampin) then stood up and explained that many MPs were attending a special briefing by the Education Ministry.

However, Lau ordered the bell to be rang for two minutes due to the insufficient headcount in Parliament.

Proceedings resumed shortly after the bell rang, when there were enough MPs in the House.

There was mild tension in the House after RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong) stood up and said the MPs had attended a briefing by the Education Ministry earlier.

“I want an explanation from Parit Buntar, why were Harakah debts not settled yet,” asked Rayer.

An MP was heard criticising Rayer.

“This is a stupid lawyer,” said the unidentified MP.

Mohd Misbahul then stood up and raised Standing Orders 36(9), and said Rayer had strayed from the debates when the DAP MP spoke about Harakah’s unpaid debts. Misbahul said Rayer’s remarks was offensive to PAS MPs

However, Lau held her ground and told Mohd Misbahul to file a motion if he was unsatisfied.

“I have made a decision, if you are unhappy, then file a motion. Sit down,” said Lau.

Datuk Seri Richard Riot (GPS-Serian) then proceeded to deliver his speech on Budget 2024.

This is the third time when proceedings came to a halt in the 15th Parliament.

The first was in March, where there were only 24 MPs in the hall and proceedings were halted for two minutes.

The second was last week, where proceedings were paused temporarily to allow more MPs to attend proceedings. The number of MPs in the House wasn’t disclosed then.

There had been previous incidents of lack of quorum in the Dewan Rakyat during previous administrations.