PM's Question Time marred by limits on opposition, confusing replies by Anwar, says PN

Perikatan Nasional's (PN) Wan Saiful Wan Jan has hit out at the restrictions on MPs during the Prime Minister's Question Time (PMQ), saying these have resulted in a lack of public interest in Dewan Rakyat debates.

The Tasek Gelugor MP also criticised Anwar Ibrahim, saying the prime minister had shown a tendency to avoid questions and provide vague answers during the weekly session. 

"He goes on a lot without giving complete facts," said Wan Saiful.

"Sometimes, the name of the act is not clear, and his sentences are confusing. So attention should actually be given to the quality of the responses from the prime minister. 

"If the prime minister's answers are of low quality, interest in hearing the answers will also be low," he said, responding to Pakatan Harapan's Fahmi Fadzil who questioned the absence of senior PN MPs including the coalition's chairman Muhyiddin Yassin, opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin, and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.

Fahmi in a Facebook picture of the opposition bench had questioned the trio's absence, saying the PMQ was the opposition's best chance to raise questions to the prime minister.

But Wan Saiful said unlike the PMQ in the British parliament, only MPs named by the speaker could ask questions. 

"The others cannot ask anything. And the speaker only allows one additional question from the original questioner, and one additional question from other parties. 

"This means that if it's my turn to ask a question, I am the only one from PN who can raise an additional question, and only one other person from the government can ask another question after me. Other MPs cannot." 

He said there was also no slot for the opposition leader to face off with the prime minister, unlike the practice in Westminster.

"So do not give the impression that the PMQ allows the opposition leader or party chief to ask questions. It is not the case. Don't spin and give the wrong perception," Wan Saiful added.

The PMQ was introduced at the recent Dewan Rakyat session which began on Feb 13 and ended yesterday. 

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul said it was one of the reforms he wanted to implement. 

"We will start it as a pilot test first, so that we can identify the problems that may arise," he said.