The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, should issue a stern directive to all Cabinet Ministers to “buck up” in Parliament and to stop playing “truant” from their parliamentary duties.
Malaysians have nothing to be proud that the Malaysian Cabinet is qualified to enter the Guinness Book of Records in terms of having Ministers with collectively the highest absence rate from Parliamentary meetings for all Commonwealth Parliaments or world legislatures.
It is not only sad but scandalous that the Ministerial benches are completely empty most of the time - even during the daily question hour, which is an important occasion for Ministers to discharge their principle of parliamentary accountability!
The Ministerial benches in Parliament are only filled when the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Mahathir Mohamad is personally presenting a policy motion, as on the Seventh Malaysia Plan, or when the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is presenting his annual budget. The presence of Cabinet Ministers in Parliament during these occasions is not because they are serious about their parliamentary duties, but because of the presence of the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.
I had checked the parliamentary records of other Commonwealth Parliaments, like the United Kingdom, India, Australia and New Zealand, and it is clear that it is most exceptional that Ministers in these countries are absent from Parliament when there are questions, Bills, topics or debates affecting their Ministries. In Malaysia, however, the opposite is the case - where the rule is for Ministers to be absent from Parliament even when there are questions, Bills, topics or debates affecting their Ministries, and the presence of Ministers in Parliament on these occasions is an exception!
The Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Nazri Abdul Aziz completely missed the point when in his reply in Parliament yesterday, he defended the poor parliamentary attendance record of the Minister for Transport, Datuk Dr. Ling Liong Sik, asking what is wrong with a eight per cent attendance record when Parliament only stipulates that an MP cannot be away for more than six months!
I had told Parliament that for this year, Liong Sik had not answered a single question relating to the Transport Ministry during the four Parliamentary meetings, when both the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister had turned up in Parliament during question time to answer questions from Mps. Liong Sik’s record is completely indefensible.
In other countries, Ministers do not have an order of priorities where the opening of private eating houses is more important than Parliamentary duties - as in the case of the Transport Minister!
I am however not focussing merely on Liong Sik’s abysmal parliamentary attendance record, but also on the overall parliamentary attendance record of Ministers generally.
The Prime Minister should instil in the Cabinet Ministers a culture of responsibility, accountability and excellence, starting by directing them to take their parliamentary duties seriously with every Minister registering a more respectable record of Parliamentary attendance, to answer questions and reply to MPs on subjects directly falling under their Ministerial jurisdiction, whether during policy debates or on Bills.
The Prime Minister is talking about Malaysia becoming the first civil service in the world to achieve the ISO 9000 quality standards by the year 2,000. How could this be achieved if the Ministers are to continue to set a world record in terms of playing “truant” from their Parliamentary duties?
(21/11/96)