{
  "id": 18330705,
  "title": "Speaker admonishes tardy ministers for missing questions in Parliament",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/speaker-admonishes-tardy-ministers-for-missing-questions-in-parliament",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-05T15:22:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today-freemalays",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2026/11/05/speaker-admonishes-tardy-ministers-for-missing-questions-in-parliament"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul has expressed concern over ministers arriving late for Parliament sittings, as it reflects poorly on the House. He emphasized that ministers and their secretaries-general should ensure they are punctual by frequently checking with the Dewan Rakyat secretariat for any changes in the question sequence. Johari pointed out that sometimes ministers or their deputies may be absent due to unforeseen circumstances, resulting in their scheduled questions being skipped. He advised ministry officials to encourage their officers to arrive early, even if their turn is later in the schedule. Johari also requested the ministry to regularly verify changes in the question sequence to accommodate any last-minute changes or unavoidable absences. This comes after opposition MPs complained about the absence of Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad and his deputy, Hanifah Hajar Taib, during a recent Minister's Question Time. Their absence was noted when Deputy Speaker Alice Lau called on Zahir Hassan to ask the third question for the Health Ministry, while the transport ministry question was skipped as Siti Mastura Muhammad was absent.",
  "summary": "Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul says it does not reflect well on the House when ministers are absent and unable to answer questions from MPs.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}