No, the absentees did not squirm

No, the absentees did not squirm If Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang could obtain the attendance record of Rafidah, others could very well obtain the records of the other ministers. ZAINON AHMAD AT THE DEWAN RAKYAT WHEN INTERNATIONAL TRADE and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz was flayed in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday, and much of last week, for her poor attendance record, many wondered whether some other ministers did not feel uneasy or guilty as well. If Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang could obtain the attendance record of Rafidah ­ two days this year and only once in six years to answer a question directed at her ministry ­ others could very well obtain the records of the other ministers. After all, many MPs, especially Datuk Mohamad Aziz (BN-Sri Gading), are on record as having excoriated some ministers ­ Rafidah among them ­ for their non-attendance. The records may just show that the attendance of some ministers, especially during question time, could very well be only slightly better than Rafidah's. How many times have the hallowed hall of the Dewan Rakyat heard MPs complaining about the unsatisfactory answers given by the deputy ministers or parliamentary secretaries while wringing their hands in exasperation and saying "Ah, but this is policy mat- ter; the minister should be here". So when Kit Siang lambasted Rafidah for being a minister who had lost her "democratic moorings and is contemptuous of the fundamental principle of ministerial responsibility and accountability to parliament", the other cabinet mem- bers must surely have felt a little hot under the collar. Or did they? No less a person than Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi himself has told his cabinet ministers to attend parliament to respond to queries. But the records have not improved. For instance, on Monday, two of the six questions during the one-hour question time were answered by the ministers concerned and on Tuesday, only three of the eight questions. No ministers were present to answer questions on Wednesday as they had to attend the weekly cabinet meeting. During the meeting, the absence of Rafidah was discussed and she was directed by the cabinet to attend parliament. Again, many wondered whether the other ministers squirmed. Hardly. Because on Thursday, of the eight questions that came up for responses, only one was answered by a minister, namely Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis. But there were nine other ministers in the House during the onehour question time ­ Datuk Aziz Shamsuddin, Datuk Seri Lim Keng Yaik, Datuk Azalina Othman Said, Datuk Azmi Khalid, Datuk Maximus Ongkili, Datuk S. Samy Vellu, Datuk Dr Shafie Mohd Salleh, Datuk Mustapa Mohamed and Datuk Radzi Sheikh Ahmad. Certainly a rare sight, said a backbencher. Samy Vellu has been complimented by a number of backbenchers a couple of times for being "a regular at the Dewan Rakyat whenever he is in the country". He is one of those who remembers that he took his oath as MP first before he was sworn in as minister. And as minister, he is responsible to parliament. Radzi had walked in towards the end of question hour to be in time to present the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2005. When the next order of business for the day was announced, the minister stood up and said the bill is presented for second reading. After Speaker Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib announced that the bill was opened for debate, Kit Siang, who was noticeably prickly since question time began, asked whether the minister was not going to say something about the bill. Ramli looked at Radzi, and the minister said: "Ada". To which Kit Siang said: "If you have, then make your presentation." It was only after Radzi had completed his presentation that the bill was debated. The bill was a compendium of amendments which, mainly, sought to increase the number of seats of the Dewan Rakyat from 219 to 222 following the electoral boundary delineation exercise in Sarawak and to make changes Ethics. Judges to the Code of By the end of the day the bill received the "ayes" of the members of the Dewan where even Abdullah and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak were present to make up the 203 votes in favour of the proposed changes. Kit Siang was visibly peeved in the mor ning when Datuk Che Min Che Ahmad (BNPasir Puteh) who stood up to ask the first question of the day also greeted and welcomed ­ a recent practice which is almost becoming customary ­ Kelantan BN state assemblymen who were sitting in the visitors' gallery. He stood up and asked Ramli whether it was really necessary to greet those in the visitors' gallery. He said it was a waste of time as they had only an hour to query the front benchers. Che Min protested and almost all the government backbenchers were on their feet shouting their disagreement with the Opposition Leader. Ramli suggested that perhaps the welcome should be extended to all in the gallery instead of limiting it to just a particular group. And as if to thumb their noses at Kit Siang on the subject, Deputy Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin and Natural Resources and Environment ministry parliamentary secretary Sazmi Miah ­ both from Kelantan ­ also wel comed the assemblymen when they stood up to answer questions on behalf of their ministries. The practice has even spread to the opposition. Last week Salahuddin Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian), when standing up to move that the Dewan debate the continued detention under the ISA of the alleged members of Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM), greeted a group of his supporters from Kelantan and welcomed them to the Dewan Rakyat. During the week, the Dewan also passed the Supplementary Supply Bill 2005 involving a sum of about RM3.9 billion. MPs also discussed Lachau, the name of a town in Kuching, whether the volume of the azan coming out of mosques could be lowered and reality TV shows like Akademi Fantasia and one of its winners, Mawi. The MPs were also told the government collected RM7.06 billion in taxes from gaming between 2001 and 2004 and that tour guides found plants growing in public toilet bowls.