Speaker chides elected reps on questions

KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia today chided members of parliament who like to ask questions concerning policy, during question-and-answer session and questions without clear objectives.
He said elected representatives should not ask questions on policy which required long replies from ministries and took up the one-and-a-half hours allocated for that session.
"I am serious, I will amend the meeting's regulations whereby members of parliament cannot ask questions involving policies.
"So lets all discipline ourselves, when asking questions, don't simply ask, think beforehand because there are 14 days to ask, what is the actual objective of the question. After that the minister will only reply on the matter raised," he said.
The reproach was made when it was the turn of Datuk Norah Abd Rahman (BN-Tanjong Manis) who brought up a question on steps taken to ensure the 55% target of women participation in the job market and 30% of women at the corporate sector's decision-making level could be achieved by the end of 2015.
Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun took about 11 minutes to reply to the question.
Chew said up to last May, 14% or 3,266 out of a total of 23,335 members of the board of directors in public companies were women.
"We have yet to achieve the target set and even if it is achieved, we will continue with efforts to enhance the position of women in the community," she said. – Bernama