PETALING JAYA: Several ministers were absent from the vote in Parliament yesterday, which saw a motion to extend a sub-section of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) defeated.
Senior ministers Azmin Ali and Hishammuddin Hussein, as well as law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, and communications and multimedia minister Annuar Musa were among the prominent absentees for the vote according to the Parliament’s Hansard.
The motion, tabled by home minister Hamzah Zainudin, to extend the enforcement of sub-section 4(5) of Sosma on the 28-day maximum detention period for another five years was defeated with 85 MPs voting in favour, 86 against and the remaining 49 absent.
The 49 MPs who were absent included seven ministers and seven deputy ministers, with transport minister Wee Ka Siong, human resources minister M Saravanan and deputy defence minister Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz among them.
Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, former prime minister Najib Razak and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang were the other notable absentees.
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