KUALA LUMPUR • Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad suggested yesterday that Parliament attendance would be taken into account in his decision to reshuffle his Cabinet.

Tun Dr Mahathir said MPs who do not attend enough parliamentary sittings will get a talking to by the Prime Minister himself.

"We will have to have a talk with the parliamentarians, as they were very anxious to be candidates," said Dr Mahathir after officiating a conference. "But after being elected, they are behaving as if they are not serious about serving the people," he said.

His comments came a day after he announced he was considering a Cabinet reshuffle to address growing public discontent over his Pakatan Harapan (PH) government's handling of the country. He said a Cabinet reshuffle was needed after PH suffered a massive defeat in a Johor by-election last Saturday.

But he added that he would first study and consider the achievements and abilities of the current ministers. On Wednesday, only 24 of 222 MPs were present, with a sitting needing a minimum of 26 MPs. This caused the Speaker to delay the sitting.

Another sitting was delayed last month due to a lack of a quorum too. Dr Mahathir said if non-attendance was a way for MPs to protest against his leadership, there were other ways to do so.

"I am open to criticism," said Dr Mahathir. "If you don't like me, then say so openly," he told reporters yesterday, amid renewed tensions in his four-party PH coalition, including calls for him to quickly pass the premiership to Parti Keadilan Rakyat president Anwar Ibrahim following the by-election defeat.

He said he agreed with Datuk Seri Anwar that those aspiring to be prime minister should do it "the right way".

Mr Anwar on Wednesday said those who want to be prime minister should get a consensus from the four PH parties and not hold meetings in houses, referring to a meeting on Monday between Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali and 22 opposition Umno MPs at his house.