DEWAN Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia yesterday rejected an emergency motion to debate the haze issue affecting the country now.
The motion proposed by both Barisan Nasional (BN) and opposition members of parliament was rejected by Pandikar Amin in his chambers after taking into consideration that the issue could be debated by members during the debate on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s address currently taking place.
“After reviewing, I agree that the issue was a specific matter which needed to be moved urgently in the interest of the people. But considering the session is now debating the royal address, members are free to speak on the haze issue.
“As such there was no need to put aside the existing meeting agenda,” he told the Dewan Rakyat.
The response came after Datuk Ir Dr Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam) raised Standing Order 18 (1) to seek Pandikar Amin to adjourn the meeting to debate the emergency motion.
On Monday, Teo Ni Cheng (DAP-Kulai) also presented a similar motion to the Speaker.
Elaborating further, Pandikar Amin said the motion was rejected after he was satisfied that there was no negligence on the part of the government in managing the problem. — Bernama