KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 — Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul today said that Members of Parliament (MPs) will no longer be allowed to livestream Dewan Rakyat proceedings.
He said that this was in accordance with Standing Order 35(1) of the Standing Orders of the Dewan Rakyat, which states that any member desiring to speak should direct their observations to the Chair.
“In order to ensure that the honourable members comply with Standing Order 35(1), I hereby stipulate that the honourable members are no longer allowed to use any devices to livestream in the Dewan Rakyat.
“For your information, the honourable members’ speeches can be watched through the live broadcast of the Dewan Rakyat on the Malaysian Parliament’s official YouTube channel, Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) and other mass media,” he said.
He said that those who had livestreamed their speeches were not directing their words to him and such action was against the said Standing Order.
Beluran MP Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee, who is also Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) vice-president, said that the reasoning provided by Johari is “simplified” and unreasonable.
He said the Parliament should move forward with the times and not backward, adding his hope that the Speaker could reconsider.
In response, Johari said that Ronald can refer the matter to the relevant committee for the Standing Order to be amended.
He also said that it was enough to have the RTM broadcast and the YouTube livestream, which MPs can still use to create content.
Besides that, Johari announced that the number of questions during the Prime Minister’s Question Time (PMQ) will be reduced from three to two, with a maximum time of 15 minutes allocated for each question.
“In order to give the honourable members more space and opportunity to raise questions for each PMQ question, I have decided to make a guideline under Standing Order 100 in line with Standing Order 24(5A) and 24A(7) to allow the Prime Minister to answer two PMQ questions on Tuesdays with an allocation of 15 minutes per question,” he said.
Further, MPs are now allowed to submit only one additional question per motion after receiving an answer from a minister, for the purpose of further clarification regarding the answer received.
Johari said that this was in accordance with the Standing Order approved by the Dewan Rakyat last Wednesday.
