Kuala Lumpur:Members of the administration have been urged to arrive early for Dewan Rakyat sittings instead of waiting for their turn to speak, ensuring smooth proceedings and avoiding absences that reflect poorly on the House.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul said the admonition followed an incident during a morning session when questions could not be answered due to the absence of the relevant parties.

He explained that such situations arise when Members of Parliament (MPs) scheduled to ask questions cannot attend for unavoidable reasons, resulting in their questions being skipped. Johari emphasized the importance of ministers and deputy ministers being present, even if their scheduled time to speak is later, to prevent questions from being skipped and to maintain the integrity of the proceedings.

Johari also requested ministry officials, particularly secretaries-general, to advise ministerial officers to regularly check for changes in the question sequence with the Dewan Rakyat secretariat, as last-minute changes can occur due to requests from ministers or other unavoidable reasons.

Earlier, concerns were raised by several opposition lawmakers over the absence of Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and his deputy during the Question Time session. This absence was highlighted when Deputy Speaker Alice Lau called on Zahir Hassan to ask a question addressed to the Ministry of Health, as listed in the Order Paper. Additionally, a question for the Ministry of Transport was skipped after the absence of the MP for Kepala Batas, causing further disruptions in the session.

Johari stressed the need for all parties to play their role in improving the conduct of Dewan Rakyat sittings, especially now that the institution has administrative autonomy.