KUALA LUMPUR: Umno Youth has asked for the air-conditioning in Dewan Rakyat to be switched off when in session.
Umno Youth exco Shahrul Nasrun Kamarudin made the request in a letter addressed to Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Arrif Md Yusof on Thursday (Nov 28).
“This is because we are very sympathetic and saddened that Pakatan Harapan MPs are cold and unable to attend Dewan Rakyat proceedings to discharge their duties after being elected by the rakyat in GE14,” he said in the letter.
He added that switching off the air-conditioning in Parliament would also help save on electricity bills, resulting in more allocations to help the rakyat.
Sharul ended the letter by wishing Pakatan MPs good health so that they would be able to stand again in the next general election.
The letter from Umno Youth comes in the wake of attempts by Opposition MPs on Tuesday (Nov 26) night to defeat the 2020 Budget for the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry by calling for a block vote.
Opposition MPs called for a bloc vote twice when they noticed that their MPs outnumbered Pakatan’s.
During the first vote count, the allocation was narrowly approved with 32 MPs voting in support while 28 Opposition MPs rejected it.
The final bloc vote saw Pakatan securing 45 votes over the Opposition’s 28 votes.
Several Pakatan lawmakers had downplayed the incident with Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohamed Hanipa Maidin saying it wasn’t easy for MPs to stay in the august Hall because it could get too cold inside at times. -The Star