KUALA LUMPUR – Infamous for his consistent no-shows at important sittings and voting sessions, Marang MP Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang is once again conspicuously absent during the opening of the 15th Parliament session today.
During the royal address by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim, Hadi’s seat in the opposition front bench was left empty.
Checks found that Hadi’s most recent social media post was made at 9.56am today on the International Court of Justice and Israel’s siege on Gaza.
This led netizens to question the PAS president’s absence during the opening session of Parliament and the royal address.
X user Sultan Coco questioned: “bang aji, ponteng ke? (Brother Haji, you skip (the sitting?)”
Another user who goes by the name “BC” asked what the penalty was for getting paid to do nothing.
“Apa hukum makan gaji buta?” he replied to Hadi’s X post.
Another X user, who is known as “Ustaz Tok Perak” labelled Hadi’s absence as rude and disrespectful to the King, while a user called “Azam” cynically asked whether Hadi was working from home.
Scoop has reached out to PAS information chief and Pasir Mas MP Ahmad Fadhli Shaari for an explanation on Hadi’s absence.
In 2022, Hadi defended his low attendance at the lower House by saying that it could not be equated with students attending school due to differences in systems and processes.
He said most people did not understand the roles that MPs play, and at the time, he was the special envoy to the Middle East, which had limited his time at Parliament.
Hadi was also recently reported to be in poor health. The 76-year-old underwent treatment at the National Heart Institute here and was later discharged.
In 2022, the Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights’ MyMP initiative had a “B15” list where Hadi was ranked fifth for the worst Parliament attendance, with 26 appearances.
At the top was Perikatan Nasional chairman and Pagoh MP Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, followed by fellow Bersatu member Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin (Larut), then Kepala Batas MP Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican and then Miri MP Dr Michael Teo. – February 26, 2024