KUANTAN: The next session of the 15th Pahang assembly sitting will be streamed on social media platforms to enable the people to follow proceedings.
State assembly speaker Datuk Seri Mohd Sharkar Shamsudin said advised assemblymen not to skip the next sitting in August as it would be broadcast live.
"The next session in August will be aired live. Do not "ponteng" (skip the sitting)," he told all those present in the august house at Wisma Sri Pahang here today (May 8).
Sharkar gave an assurance that he would strive to calm things down after Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (Pas-Cheka) and Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail had a heated exchange.
Earlier, Tuan Ibrahim, who was debating the motion of thanks for the royal address of the Sultan of Pahang, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, said the state assembly sitting was not aired live and no one was allowed to record the sitting.
"The sitting is not live, recording is also not allowed.
The villagers in Tioman cannot hear the speech by their assemblyman (referring to Tioman assemblyman Datuk Seri Johari Hussain who debated earlier).
"These days, live streaming is normal, even those catching fish also go live. We are at a state assembly," he said before Wan Rosdy interjected.
Wan Rosdy said he had already agreed to broadcast the state assembly sitting live but decided not to go ahead following the provocation by Perikatan Nasional (PN).
"I had earlier told the speaker that we (state assembly) will go live but PN's extreme provocation, daring me to broadcast the session if I was an 'anak jantan' (man enough). We decided to call off the decision because if we go ahead with the live telecast, then PN will claim that we caved in to their demands.
"We were prepared(to broadcast live) at any time but due to PN inciting extreme provocation we decided to withdraw. Do not go overboard....I received feedback that it was better not to air the session live due to the provocations," he said.
Tuan Ibrahim then raised a point, saying he was airing the concerns of the media, to which Sharkar gave an assurance that the next sitting would be shown live.
Sharkar said his decision was not due to PN's demands but because Wan Rosdy and the state government had already agreed for the next session to be aired live.
Last week, Pahang Pas Youth information chief Ahmad Azlan Abu Bakar dared Wan Rosdy to be an "anak jantan" and broadcast the sitting.
Caption:
1. A notice put up at Wisma Sri Pahang where members of the media and the public follow the proceedings on television screen.