KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says it is okay for the people to whack the government if it is not doing a good job.
He said this in response to a Facebook post yesterday by media and communications adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office Datuk A. Kadir Jasin.
The veteran journalist said after 17 months of becoming the government, the time to advise the Pakatan Harapan government had ended and now was the time to whack them.
“He or anyone can whack us. Our own people criticise us in the Parliament so it’s okay if we are not doing the right thing.
“Everyone is already whacking the government anyway, either on the media or social media (platform).
“Who else are you going to whack if it’s not the government?
“You are not going to whack the opposition because they only know how to criticise,” he said in the Parliament lobby today.
Meanwhile, on Dewan Rakyat not having enough quorum recently due to the lack of PH members of parliament attending the proceedings, Dr Mahathir said a warning had been issued to all lawmakers from the pact.
He said the matter was discussed during a recent Cabinet meeting and said it was nothing more than a disciplinary problem among the lawmakers.
“Lately, there are many overseas meetings being held which require ministers to be abroad while other MPs have their own problems.
“Most of the time they are in the Parliament building, it’s just that they didn’t go inside the hall which is why we can just ring the bell to call them in.
“This happens in any government. One time I went to visit the American Congress and saw only one person talking and two others were listening, but they never made the quorum issue a big deal.
“Sometimes, the quorum issue is raised due to political reasons,” he said.
Last Thursday, the Dewan Rakyat proceedings were halted as there were not enough MPs in the hall.
The Dewan Rakyat Standing Order 13 states that there must be at least 26 MPs in the 222-seat strong Lower House of Parliament to allow proceedings to be held.
On a separate matter, Dr Mahathir confirmed that the government was working on lifting the travel ban to North Korea.
“We are working on establishing our diplomatic relations with them,” he said.
On Sept 28, 2017, Wisma Putra said Malaysians were banned from traveling to North Korea, citing “security issues”.
This follows the murder of Kim Jong-Nam, the estranged half brother to North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un.