PETALING JAYA: A PAS MP has questioned why the Government did not table a motion on the Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report, saying MPs were only given an opportunity to hear a ministerial briefing without being able to vote on any further action to be taken.
Alor Setar MP Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden said a motion should have been tabled to allow the Dewan Rakyat to debate the RCI findings and decide on the Government’s next course of action.
“A minister gives a briefing on what he has done. MPs ask questions, the Minister answers, and that is where it ends.
“They might as well just call a press conference. Journalists can ask questions, the minister answers, and it becomes news,” he said in a statement on Facebook on Tuesday (Aug 11).
The Dewan Rakyat is holding a special sitting to debate the findings of the RCI, which was released on July 29.
The ministerial briefing on the RCI report on TH and the efforts and measures taken to restore its financial position is being held during today's Special Dewan Rakyat Sitting.
Afnan Hamimi said a motion was necessary as it would allow MPs to vote and the House to decide on the action required following the RCI’s findings.
“That is the function of the Dewan Rakyat, the legislative body,” he said.
He also questioned the decision to proceed with the special sitting in the absence of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who was unable to attend.
“An issue as important as this should have been presented by the Prime Minister,” he said.
Afnan also accused the Government of not being serious about addressing the issues raised by the RCI.
“What is strange is that PMX had already ‘debated’ this issue during the Negri Sembilan state election recently. It made the issue appear very serious indeed.
“But when the day of the sitting arrived, it became nothing more than a chit-chat session with the minister,” he said.
Earlier, the Prime Minister slammed Perikatan for staging a walkout from the Dewan Rakyat special sitting on the TH Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report, questioning whether they were more interested in discussing his absence than the findings.
On July 29, the RCI made public its 211-page report, which contained various findings on weaknesses in the institution's management and operations between 2014 and 2020, in addition to presenting 25 recommendations for improvements, of which 75 per cent had been implemented by TH as of July 30.
The government announced the establishment of the RCI in 2021, followed by the appointment of its members on Jan 20, 2022, and the RCI report was subsequently presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agon on Aug 30, 2022.
