Wednesday, April 30, 2008

dewan rakyat – day 3 : SETTING THE TONE - malaysia parliament opens with political animals noises

On April 6, 2008: Malaysia's duelling leaders lock horns over poll losses
New Malaysia parliament opens with rowdy name-calling The first debate in Malaysia's new parliament descended into noisy name-calling Wednesday as a newly emboldened opposition took on the government. Monkey and Bigfoot were two of the epithets used in a rowdy session during which lawmakers shouted and gesticulated in heated exchanges across the floor of the chamber.

The first sitting of Malaysia's 12th parliament was delayed by more than 20 minutes as government and opposition parliamentarians hurled barbs and raised technical issues.

Opposition Democratic Action Party chairman and lawmaker Karpal Singh began by questioning the way the session was being held when he was distracted by a government MP, Bung Moktar Radin.

"I hope Bigfoot... does not disrupt the proceedings," Karpal taunted him. "Bigfoot, sit down." Bung sprang from his chair, shouting: "I am bigfoot, you are big monkey."

Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia struggled to control the situation. "Let's not create chaos in parliament," he appealed as the verbal exchanges continued, "let us ensure there is order in parliament."

A semblance of order was restored when Abdullah responded to a question on measures taken to reduce the impact of rising fuel and food prices. However, Pandikar's refusal to allow the usual follow-up questions to the PM's response drew a further outburst, with former opposition leader Lim Kit Siang calling the restriction "a mockery of parliament."

PM Requests Speaker to Allow Him to Accept Supplementary Questions KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Wednesday demonstrated his willingness to answer any question from members of parliament when he voluntarily requested Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia to allow him to take supplementary questions during the question time.
LIVE FROM PARLIAMENT: Members of the public at the Bowl Kopitiam, Petaling Jaya, listening to the Prime Minister's speech during the first Parliamentary sitting. The session was televised nationwide. NST Pix by Nik Rosli Ishak.

Dewan Rakyat Live Telecast May Be Reviewed KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 (Bernama) -- The trial live telecast of 30 minutes of the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat may be reviewed because Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek feels several Opposition MPs attempted to seek cheap publicity by raising trivial issues during Wednesday's maiden broadcast.

Only Three Questions Asked During 90-minute Question-and-answer Session In Dewan Rakyat KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 (Bernama) -- The question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat which began its sitting Wednesday was disrupted for almost an hour when several members of parliament, particularly from the opposition, raised questions on the meeting procedures.

No comments:

Post a Comment