He said this was not in accordance with the Standing Order of the Dewan Negara.

He said the questions raised to the ministry were important for all quarters to know the answers.

“A minister who is unable to answer in this august House should instruct his/her deputy to answer the question.

“If the deputy (minister) is unable to answer, he/she may delegate it to any minister to answer on behalf of the administration.”

If that cannot be done, a written answer should be given by the minister, he said during the question-and-answer session at the Dewan Negara today.

According to the Order Paper of the Dewan Negara sitting today, Zahid Md Arip was to pose a question on Malaysia’s stance on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to the international trade and industry minister.

Zahid also wanted to know the measures taken by the ministry to address the economic impact on the country caused by the conflict.

Othman Aziz, who stood to interrupt Rais, asked whether the unanswered questions that were posed today could be brought to the next day.

“If everybody did that, then we would be delaying matters,” Rais said.

He then proceeded with the question-and-answer session in accordance with the Order Paper for today’s sitting.