KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Ramli Mohd Nor has reminded lawmakers to mind their manners when debating in the lower House.
Before proceedings began on Thursday (Nov 30), Ramli said this came as the Dewan Rakyat was known as an honourable House.
“We call this (the Dewan Rakyat) an honourable House, but are the behaviour and attitudes you all display while debating something honourable?
“Think about it,” he said.
Ramli’s reminder echoes Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Dr Johari Abdul recent call for MPs to do away with party politics and improve the quality of debate in the coming session.
On Bernama TV's Ruang Bicara programme on Wednesday (Nov 29), Johari said every MP was responsible for highlighting the wishes of the people in the area they represent and should not just be champions for their respective political parties during debates.
"I would like to remind them that they are paid to come to the Dewan Rakyat to speak on behalf of the people. The moment you enter (session) is the right of the people's time, and you must speak for them.
"If we start being jokers, comedians in Parliament, eventually the community will make fun of us and what happens in Parliament... this is what we want to avoid," he said on Bernama TV's Ruang Bicara programme on Wednesday (Nov 29).
Johari said MPs also need to prepare themselves by reading about matters that would be brought to the Dewan so that the debate would be more fruitful and mature, thus leading to a more substantive discussion.
