At a press conference, Perikatan Nasional chairman Muhyiddin Yassin said this was an extraordinary occurrence, as they were not informed of the slot given to Anwar, while the debate on the King’s speech was ongoing.
“This is the tyranny of the majority. Just because they have a majority, they do what they want without following the procedures that have been in place for so long,” said the former prime minister.
Opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin meanwhile claimed it was abuse of power for the government to insert a slot in the agenda at their own whims and fancies.
“If we listen to the King’s speech, he said we must follow the set procedures. So when it’s the prime minister’s turn to speak (according to the agenda), he can speak all he wants.
“If he wants to speak for one hour, two hours or the whole day, we can listen. But when they do something that breaches the Standing Orders, it makes us feel this is an abuse of power,” said the Larut MP.
Kota Bharu MP Takiyuddin Hassan said Anwar’s speech was designated as a “ministerial briefing session”. He added that the Dewan Rakyat Standing Orders stipulate that these sessions must be included in the daily agenda of sittings.
“But there was no ministerial briefing session in the agenda for today,” he said.
Meanwhile, Anwar condemned the opposition MPs for walking out of the Dewan Rakyat during his speech, saying he simply wanted to congratulate the new King and thank the past King for his service.
The prime minister argued that it would be unreasonable to express gratitude to the previous Agong after the debate on the King’s speech is over.
“The opposition (walking out) reflects their rude behaviour, disrespecting the institution of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.”
Anwar also said he was slotted to deliver his speech in the morning, but could not do so as he had a meeting with Cambodia’s prime minister Hun Manet, who was on an official visit to Malaysia.
“So I had asked the Speaker (Johari Abdul) for permission to give my speech at 2.30pm instead,” he said.
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