PN's motion on Anwar's visit to Saudi Arabia rejected

A motion brought by Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's recent trip to Saudi Arabia has been rejected, the Perikatan Nasional lawmaker said in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Wan Ahmad Fayhsal said this after receiving a response from the speakers' office. 

He said his attempts to raise questions related to the visit at the Minister's Question Time this morning were also rejected. 

"So I ask what other channels I can use in the Dewan Rakyat to ask the foreign ministry to explain what happened in Saudi Arabia last week," he said to deputy speaker Ramli Mohd Nor. 

Kota Bharu MP Takiyuddin Hassan meanwhile asked the government if it would use Rule 14(1)(i) of the Dewan Rakyat to provide clarification to the House and the people in general. 

He said the matter raised by Wan Ahmad Fayhsal was one of public interest. 

"Everyone wants to know what really happened," he said. 

"The motion was rejected, the questions were rejected – what else can we do in the Dewan Rakyat?"

Questions were raised after Anwar's delegation to Saudi Arabia was unable to meet with de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and King Salman Abdul Aziz.

Responding to Wan Ahmad Fayhsal, Ramli asked him to refer to Rule 43 which states: 

"The chairman of the meeting or the chairman of the committee is responsible for ensuring that the rules of the meeting or committee are respected, and his decision regarding any matter of the meeting's rules cannot be put forward for reconsideration and cannot be reviewed by the meeting except by issuing a separate motion for that reason.

"This kind of proposal is not intended to be issued by the notifier more than two days in advance."