Netizens appalled by empty government aisle during Nurul Izzah's speech

5 Oct 2021

By Nur Syafiqah Abdullah

KUALA LUMPUR: Twitter users were horrified to learn that almost all of the seats at the ruling government's aisle in Dewan Rakyat were empty yesterday as shown in a 12-second footage during Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar's speech.

The short clip was uploaded by Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman on his Twitter with a caption saying: "1) Paras garis kemiskinan yang lama menyebabkan orang susah tercicir dari bantuan kerajaan. Change this. 2) We need a more progressive taxation (including Capital Gains Tax) supaya bantuan kepada golongan susah dapat dipertingkatkan."

The tweet garnered almost 3,000 likes and more than 1,000 retweets with most users expressing dismay when they noticed that most of the government MPs were absent during the sitting.

"I have a serious question, do MPs usually have other jobs? It makes sense if MP cannot attend (the sitting) if they have other crucial or last-minute tasks (such as) babysitting. Attending the Parliament is a part of their job scope, no?" said a user.

Another user said: "I think we should propose a law. Miss one day parliament, deduct salary and allowance. Miss three days without reason, vacant seat permanently."

"Good speech but unfortunately listened by empty chairs. How sad Malaysian politics," said another user.

Another user retorted by saying: "Attending the parliament is the least you all can do to show you care about rakyat, but nah, we are really that nothing to these MP's. Bukan hari hari pun kau kena kerja, itu pun susah nak hadir."

Yesterday at the Dewan Rakyat, Nurul Izzah was speaking about the 12th Malaysia Plan and the improvements required to meet the suffering of the B40 community due to Covid-19.