Wilfred Madius Tangau (Upko-Tuaran) was in the middle of his speech, talking about the budget allocations for Sabah, when deputy education minister Mohamad Alamin stood up and asked if he could interject.

Tangau told Mohamad to go ahead, before pausing and asking: “Can a deputy minister interject?”

Deputy speaker Mohd Rashid Hasnon then told Mohamad to go ahead and speak.

Just as Mohamad was starting, Chang Lih Kang (PH-Tanjong Malim) asked Rashid if a deputy minister could be allowed to interject an MP’s speech, saying it went against parliamentary convention.

“The (deputy) speaker has given me permission, what’s the issue?” asked Mohamad, to which Chang said it was not about being granted permission but the conventions of Parliament.

Tangau then said he would allow the deputy minister, who is also the Kimanis MP, to go ahead and interject.

“I’m surprised by the (deputy) speaker’s decision,” said Chang, before finally sitting down.

Mohamad then asked Tangau, the former Sabah deputy chief minister under the Pakatan Harapan administration, if he felt guilty that several development projects were cancelled when the coalition was in power in Putrajaya.

The Upko president dismissed the question and said the debate was about Budget 2022.