The first bell was rung for two minutes at 2.30pm. But there was a poor response.

Most of the ministers and deputy ministers were not present.

Noor Azmi Ghazali (Independent-Bagan Serai) stood up to state that the sitting may have to be postponed as there were not enough MPs.

This prompted the speaker to ring the bell for another two minutes to alert MPs to enter the hall.

When 35 of the 222 MPs were present, the debate continued.

The Dewan Rakyat is into its second week of sitting. It ends on Aug 16.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said it was not practical for ministers to be in the Dewan Rakyat at all times as they were already stretched with their ministerial duties.

“They must attend to these duties because Parliament sittings last almost the whole day. People can work 20 days, but for parliamentary sittings, they cannot work. That’s not practical.

“They need to attend to their work as well,” he said, amid reports of empty seats in the backbenchers during Dewan Rakyat sittings.

He said MPs should have a good excuse for not attending Dewan Rakyat sittings and added that he was was also not satisfied with his own attendance.

Dr M says not practical for ministers to be in Dewan Rakyat at all times