PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong has questioned why the deputy minister of a different portfolio answered a question posed to the Health Ministry in Parliament.
"Today's Q&A session at the Dewan Rakyat was something out of the ordinary whereby the 8th question asked by Masjid Tanah MP Datuk Wira Mas Ermieyati was not answered by the Health Minister, Dr Zaliha Mustafa or her deputy, Lukanisman Awang Sauni.
"The original question was about whether the services of local nurses were sufficient, which was answered by the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives deputy minister Saraswathy Kandasami, who represented the Health Ministry.
"According to Saraswathy, the Health Minister could not make it to the sitting all of a sudden because of some other important matters while her deputy was attending a programme in Johor Bahru and could not make it back to answer the question," said the Ayer Hitam MP on Facebook on Thursday (Oct 26).
Dr Wee said such a thing should not have happened, as based on his two decades of experience, a minister or deputy minister must be in the Dewan Rakyat no matter what the justification was.
"Furthermore when questioned by Mas Ermieyati, who is also the Public Accounts Committee chairman in the absence of the deputy minister, Saraswathy claimed 'accusation'.
"I was confused by this answer by the deputy minister as it was inappropriate for the government to answer a question in such a manner," he said.
Dr Wee said such an answer would only provide the Opposition ammunition to attack the government because the ministries involved in answering oral questions had been informed in advance.
"If the minister or deputy minister could not attend the Dewan Rakyat sitting, they must inform the secretary so that the questions to be answered will not be selected.
"I hope the government will take the criticism from MPs with an open heart.
"Furthermore getting a deputy minister from another portfolio to answer the original question from an MP is not conventional practice and we must put an end to such a practice," added Dr Wee.
Later, in a comment on his original post, Dr Wee said that a special officer to the Health Minister had contacted him and confirmed that Dr Zaliha was unwell today and has been given two days of medical leave.
"I wish her (Dr Zaliha) a quick recovery," Dr Wee said in his comment.
The Health Ministry also clarified that the minister was unwell and the information was relayed earlier to the Secretary of Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Rakyat did acknowledge this during the session.
