A general view of Parliament building in Kuala Lumpur March 29, 2018. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon
KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 — A total of three party whips aligned with the ruling coalition were absent during the vote to approve a motion under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) in Parliament yesterday.
According to the Parliament Hansard, the three party whips were Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali (PN-Bersatu), Nik Muhammad Zawawi Haji Salleh (PN-PAS) and Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (BN-Umno).
Based on the Hansard, a total of 50 MPs were absent — including 32 government backbenchers and 28 Opposition MPs — when the vote took place at 4.50pm.
Several had valid reasons for being absent, including Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and Lim Kit Siang who are all under quarantine after testing positive for Covid-19.
Separately, Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng, who requested for an early adjournment to his criminal trial, was present during the vote.
However, Pekan MP Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who was also attending his 1MDB trial, did not attend the session despite it being adjourned before the voting took place.
Yesterday, the motion to extend the enforcement of sub-section 4(5) of Sosma for another five years was rejected after a bloc vote saw 86 MPs voting against and 84 in favour.
MORE TO COME