Speaker defends rejecting Wan Azizah’s questions

(The Star) – Selangor state assembly speaker Hannah Yeoh has defended rejecting all 10 questions from Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (PKR-Kajang) and dismissed the incident as a small matter.

Yeoh said Tuesday that all state assemblymen had been briefed in Jan this year about the Standing Order pertaining to submitting questions in the House.

“However, Kajang (assemblyman Dr Wan Azizah) was not briefed as she only became a representative after the briefing session.

“It is a small matter. In fact questions by several representatives were also turned down. I am not sure why this is an issue,” she told reporters at the lobby, Tuesday.

She said this, however, did not deprive Dr Wan Azizah from raising concerns in the House, adding that she could still do so in supplementary questions.

All questions submitted by Dr Wan Azizah, who is also PKR president, were rejected after they were found to be more than 40 words in length. The word limit for questions is 10 words.

Wan Azizah took her oath as Kajang assemblyman on April 7 after winning the Mar 23 by-election.