PAS Youth chief Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden has accused the government of failing to take the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report on Tabung Haji (TH) seriously, claiming the special Dewan Rakyat sitting on Tuesday was limited to a Ministerial briefing without any specific motion.
Afnan said the government should have tabled a dedicated motion to allow MPs to decide on the appropriate follow-up action to be taken based on the findings of the report.
“But today, there is only a Ministerial briefing. The Minister explains what has been done, MPs ask questions and the Minister answers. That is where it ends,” he said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
He argued that if the sitting was merely intended for a briefing, the government could have held a press conference instead, as no decision could be reached through the Dewan Rakyat under the current format.
“It would be better to call a press conference. Journalists ask questions, the Minister answers, and then it becomes news,” he said.
According to Afnan, the Opposition wanted a specific motion to be tabled because it would allow MPs to vote and make a formal decision on what action the government should take.
“We want a motion. When there is a motion, there can be a vote. When there is a vote, there is a decision for the government to take action. That is the function of the Dewan Rakyat, the legislative body,” he said.
Afnan also questioned Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s absence from the special sitting due to health reasons, saying the issue was significant enough for the Prime Minister to have presented the matter himself.
“Coincidentally, PMX is unwell today and unable to attend. An issue this significant should have been presented by the Prime Minister,” he said.
He cited Kota Bharu MP Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan’s earlier position that the Opposition was prepared to debate the matter if Anwar attended, but would support postponing the sitting until the Prime Minister was able to be present.
Afnan subsequently accused Pakatan Harapan (PH) of lacking seriousness in taking action to address the issues highlighted in the Tabung Haji RCI report.
“It appears that PH is not serious about taking action to address the issues in this Tabung Haji RCI,” he said.
He also questioned why the RCI report had been made public before being formally debated in Parliament, claiming that Anwar had already discussed the matter during the Negeri Sembilan state election.
“What is strange is that PMX had already ‘debated’ this issue during the Negeri Sembilan state election. It seemed very serious then. But when the parliamentary sitting came, it only became a chit-chat session with the Minister,” he said.
Afnan also took a swipe at the government’s handling of the matter, sarcastically questioning its governance approach.
“This is not governance. This is ‘tatatekola’,” he said.
The special Dewan Rakyat sitting continued on Tuesday to debate the Tabung Haji RCI report after Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul rejected a request to postpone the proceedings following the Prime Minister’s absence.
