KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 — Dewan Negara President Tan Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar reminded Cabinet members today to respect the Parliamentary institution by attending question-and-answer sessions for their respective ministries.
He said as the Parliament's upper house, the Senate’s sanctity must be respected, and the ministers' is important to clarify matters raised by Senate members.
“I would like to remind here that if the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) can attend (the proceedings), both the Deputy Prime Ministers (Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof) can attend; why not the ministers?
“Is it because (they think) this place is too lowly for the ministers? This is the upper house of Parliament,” he said when Tourism, Arts, and Culture Deputy Minister Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan was answering questions in the Dewan Negara.
Earlier, in his supplementary question, Senator Amir Md Ghazali wanted some clarification on the position of Tourism, Arts, and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, whom he claimed had not attended question-and-answer proceedings in the last eight months.
Wan Junaidi also reproached Khairul, whom he said was not providing the specific answers to matters raised to the ministry.
“Yang Berhormat (Khairul), you are mostly answering (only) on tourism products; what is being asked is about the conduct of tourism players and not merely (tourism) products… I hope the ministry (Motac) can prepare satisfactory answers,” he said.
— Bernama
