The opposition MPs said they were “shocked” when they saw the inclusion of a motion notice in today’s Order Paper, calling for the six-month suspension of three MPs – Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor), Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak) and R. Sivarasa (PKR-Subang) – from the House over the Israel-APCO issue.
The three will join their Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also facing the boot from the House for six months for claiming earlier this year the public relations consultancy APCO Worldwide had been behind both the 1 Malaysia and 1 Israel concepts.
Just yesterday, only Anwar was recommended for punishment over the issue in the final report by the House’s Rights and Privileges Committee.
Karpal (picture), who is also a committee member, was recommended to received severe “admonishment” for allegedly insulting Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, the committee’s chairman.
“You witnessed the drama in Parliament just now. Yesterday, when we were in discussion with Karpal, we only received confirmation that he would be admonished.
“But today, we were shocked to see these new recommendations of suspensions. This means, everyday, things changes. The facts may be the same as before but today, they want to suspend three others for six months,” Anwar told a press conference in Parliament.
He accused the ruling coalition of using brute majority to bulldoze through their decisions and strengthen their power in Parliament.
“This is why we would like to record our disappointment here and our strong rejection on the Speaker’s agreement to allow this to happen.
“We are aware of the arrogance of Umno-BN but to use the Speaker’s chair as their channel, this is wrong,” he said.
The motion against Karpal, Sivarasa and Azmin by a Minister in the Prime Minister’s department today states that the three had violated Standing Order 85.
The regulation stipulates that any statement recorded before the House’s powerful Rights and Privileges Committee must be embargoed until its final report is tabled before Parliament.
“On December 6, the Gombak MP, through an emergency motion under Standing Order 18(1) had touched on the statements and a letter that was furnished to the committee on December 3.
“The MPs from Bukit Gelugor and Subang had also insulted and violated the rights and privileges of an MP. It is an insult to the House,” it was said on the Order Paper.
The additional suspension orders on the Karpal, Azmin and Sivarasa sparked off much furore from the opposition bench in the House, and dominated much of this morning’s session.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia did not have the opportunity to open the floor for debates on the second reading of the amendments to the Road Transport Act 1987 which was scheduled for today.
Anwar stressed that the decision to allow the motion had been unfair as none of the PR MPs had been given the opportunity to defend themselves.
“Why not we adjourn Dewan for a few hours, give us some time to provide an explanation.
“Furthermore, it was clear earlier that the Speaker himself had lost control of the House but he just let it be and there was chaos. He should have stepped down if he could not control the House and allow his deputy to take over,” he said.
PAS’ Bachok MP Nasharudin Mat Isa noted that Pandikar could have adjourned the House for a few hours to allow MPs to rest and discuss the issue among themselves.
“He can then resume the sitting so that we can debate the matter intelligently. But today, we see that he continued, even in a situation where he clearly had lost control.
“We are MPs and we have the privilege to speak. The issue that we had raised did not touch on the Malay Rulers or court proceedings, which is not allowed, but on an issue about our right to be heard, backed by documented proof.
“We are shocked that three other MPs have been named for suspension, without even being given the chance to defend themselves,” he said.
Nasharudin added that the integrity of the institution of Parliament was now questionable.
“It is supposed to be a legislative House that enacts laws and regulations for the people. It needs to be reformed and should we in PR be given the mandate, we pledge that we will do this,” he said.
Rasa MP Anthony Loke said that the BN representatives were clearly using sheer majority to topple its opposition foes.
“Now we have 77 MPs but when these motions are voted on tomorrow, BN will likely pass it through and then we will lose our one-third in the House,” he said.
He added that with the four MPs barred from the House, the ruling coalition would likely attempt to bulldoze policies and legislative amendments.
“This will have a huge political impact on PR’s voice in Parliament,” he said.
