Speaker tells ministers, deputy ministers to arrive early for Dewan Rakyat

KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul reminded members of the administration to arrive early to answer questions and avoid unseemly absences during proceedings.

Johari made the reprimand after an incident during the morning sitting yesterday when several questions went unanswered because the relevant parties were absent.

"This situation does not reflect well on the House.

"I advise members of the administration to arrive early in the chamber, even if your question number is later in the order," he said before starting the winding-up session on the Supply Bill (Budget) 2027 committee-stage debate and Development Expenditure Estimates for the Rural and Regional Development Ministry in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

Earlier, several opposition MPs questioned the absence of Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and his deputy, Datuk Hanifah Hajar Taib, during the oral question-and-answer session.

Their absence was noted after Deputy Speaker Alice Lau called on Zahir Hassan (PH-Wangsa Maju) to ask the third question, directed to the Health Ministry, as listed in the Order Paper.

During the session, the second question scheduled for the Transport Ministry was skipped because the Kepala Batas MP, who was supposed to table it, was not present in the chamber, leading the sitting to move on to the next question.

However, neither the minister nor the deputy minister responsible for answering the subsequent question was in the chamber, forcing the question to be skipped when their names were called.