KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has questioned the attitude and professionalism of some Pakatan Harapan (PH) lawmakers after a lack of quorum on Wednesday forced the Dewan Rakyat sitting to be delayed by two minutes.
The Prime Minister noted that this was the second time in the current sitting that the number of Members of Parliament present in the August house did not meet the quorum requirement.
“We will have to talk to the Members of Parliament,” he told a press conference after attending the Employees Provident Fund International Social Well-being Conference 2019, here, today.
“They (MPs) were very anxious to be candidates for the last general election, but after being elected, they are not behaving as if they are serious about serving the people,” he added.
On Wednesday morning, the Dewan Rakyat sitting had to be delayed temporarily after only 24 MPs were present in the hall, two short of the requirement.
The bell had to be rang again to remind MPs to enter, before four more lawmakers were seen entering the hall.
This was the second time in the current parliamentary sitting that the proceeding had to be halted due to a lack of quorum, with a similar incident happening on Oct 17.
Commenting on claims that the lack of quorum was a form of protest by PH lawmakers against his leadership, Mahathir reminded that there are many other ways for them to express their dissatisfaction.
“If they don’t like me, they can say so openly. I am subject to criticism, because as leaders, one must expect to be criticised,” he said.
Asked if he would start taking down attendance of the MPs, Mahathir said this was already being practised, adding that it would be up to him to decide if the attendance would be taken into consideration when he conducts a Cabinet reshuffle soon.
On Wednesday, Mahathir said a reshuffle was on the cards following the ruling coalition’s disastrous outing at the Tanjung Piai by-election recently, claiming the decision was made after receiving feedback from various quarters.
He however did not give a timeframe on when this would take place, but hinted it could happen sometime next year.
Asked to comment on PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s statement that’s any transition of power should be done through the proper way, and not through the backdoor, Mahathir said here with agreed with the former.
