KUALA LUMPUR: The debate session on the Supply Bill 2024 at the committee level for the Education Ministry started a few minutes late after several members of parliament (MP) questioned the whereabouts of its minister or deputy.
Ayer Hitam MP Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong raised the matter to the Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker Datuk Ramli Mohd Noor.
"We ask the minister or the deputy to be in the House. This is a committee stage level, it is necessary for the minister to give an immediate response (to the issues raised by the MPs during the debate session)," he said.
Indera Mahkota MP Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah said he also refused to participate in the debate without the attendance of the minister.
"I agree with Ayer Hitam. If it's like this, I don't want to take part in the debate," he said.
Ramli, however, said, according to the Standing Order, the minister can be represented by another minister or officers from the ministry.
"I believe that the minister's representatives are here (in the House)," he said.
Not long after that, Ramli announced that the minister was already in the House and asked Datuk Seri Doris Sophia Anak Brodi (GPS-Sri Aman) to start the debate session.