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fter scrapping a hearing Wednesday between the House of Representatives' health commission and the health minister, the House secretariat canceled another hearing on Thursday.

The hearing, canceled by the secretariat's meeting affairs bureau, was to have been between Commission VIII on religious affairs and Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali.

The meeting was to have commenced at 10 a.m. to discuss the haj, said Commission VIII member Hasrul Azwar.

"The secretariat said it would be delayed until next week," said the United Development Party (PPP) legislator, adding the bureau did not provide any reason for the cancelation.

"The House speaker usually doesn't interfere with the commissions' hearings," Hasrul said, re-ferring to House Speaker Marzuki Alie.

Marzuki, after meeting with the speaker and deputy speakers of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) and the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), got dramatic when asked when he would allow House commissions to meet with ministers.

He grabbed the microphone of the TV journalist who had posed the question and said, "That matter does not need to be discussed, and please do not ask questions that are out of context."

On Wednesday, Marzuki said he would not let any of the House commissions meet with ministers before all of the commissions had managed to establish a clear program and schedule.

He said he suspected some of the planned hearings were "filled with political interests".

The Democratic Party legislator also said he planned to push for internal reform at the House so people would no longer see ministers being yelled at during hearings.

However, Deputy House Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, from the Golkar Party, said the speaker's decision to intervene in the hearings was unwarranted.

"I personally disagree. To yell and to express anger are the rights of the commission members," he said.

"However, I believe the speaker's main reason to cancel a hearing should be procedural rather than political."

Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) political analyst Burhanud-din Muhtadi said Marzuki had a long way to go to become a great statesman.

"Why would he cancel commission hearings just for the sake of saving the ministers' faces?" he said.

"Especially the latest meeting on the haj, which is one of the more crucial issues of recent times. It's the job of the House to monitor the ministers and sometimes use firm language.

"His recent actions indicate he wants to protect President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government."

Yudhoyono is the Democratic Party's chief patron.