Pakatan Rakyat MPs stage walkout
The Edge Daily (1/7/08): Pakatan Rakyat Members of Parliament (MPs) staged a walkout from the Dewan Rakyat yesterday to protest against Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia’s decision to allow Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to speak on the Mid-Term Review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan.
Pandikar said it was his discretion under the Standing Orders as the Speaker to allow Najib to make the speech, and told the MPs who disagreed with his decision to submit a motion to parliament on the matter.
DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang (Ipoh Timur-DAP), supported by other Pakatan Rakyat members, pointed out that it would be a misuse of Standing Order 14(1)(i) to make a ministerial statement on his support for the mid-term review.
“He should have made the statement when he seconded the motion last week,” Lim said, adding that it was misuse of a standing order.
He said they walked out in protest because there was no respect for the standing orders.
“This has never happened. It was very clear the DPM didn’t use his opportunity to support the mid-term review last Thursday, and now he wants a second bite of the cherry. It is unparliamentary and unacceptable. We will present a motion to review the Speaker’s decision on this matter and also on suspending the Puchong MP for two days,” Lim said.
He said any ministerial statement should have instead touched on Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who was taking refuge in the Turkish Embassy because of fear for his personal safety. “That is an urgent matter. Not an extra explanation on the mid-term review. That is ridiculous,” he said.
Pakatan Rakyat MPs kept interrupting Najib, who was trying to deliver his speech, with various points of order until they finally decided to walk out in protest.
As they were walking out, the deputy prime minister could be heard quipping that it was “better” without the opposition MPs in the House.
In his speech, Najib elaborated on the third thrust of the 9MP, which involved strategies to overcome socio-economic inequality in a constructive and productive manner, to avoid misinterpretation by any party.
“The approach taken under this thrust is to reduce the imbalances among ethnic groups, between rural and urban areas and among regions. I would like to explain that the implementation of strategies under this thrust will not exclude opportunities to other groups,” he said.
Mahfuz Omar (Pokok Sena-PAS) asked if the government was admitting that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had missed out some points when he presented his speech on the mid-term review last Thursday by allowing Najib to provide further explanations.
Opposition leader Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (Permatang Pauh-PKR) questioned why was there a need for Najib to add further explanations to the mid-term review.
“The review by the PM finished before 1pm last Thursday. They had time until 5.30pm,” she said. The House went into a recess until Monday right after Abdullah had presented the review.
Pandikar said it was his discretion under the Standing Orders as the Speaker to allow Najib to make the speech, and told the MPs who disagreed with his decision to submit a motion to parliament on the matter.
DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang (Ipoh Timur-DAP), supported by other Pakatan Rakyat members, pointed out that it would be a misuse of Standing Order 14(1)(i) to make a ministerial statement on his support for the mid-term review.
“He should have made the statement when he seconded the motion last week,” Lim said, adding that it was misuse of a standing order.
He said they walked out in protest because there was no respect for the standing orders.
“This has never happened. It was very clear the DPM didn’t use his opportunity to support the mid-term review last Thursday, and now he wants a second bite of the cherry. It is unparliamentary and unacceptable. We will present a motion to review the Speaker’s decision on this matter and also on suspending the Puchong MP for two days,” Lim said.
He said any ministerial statement should have instead touched on Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who was taking refuge in the Turkish Embassy because of fear for his personal safety. “That is an urgent matter. Not an extra explanation on the mid-term review. That is ridiculous,” he said.
Pakatan Rakyat MPs kept interrupting Najib, who was trying to deliver his speech, with various points of order until they finally decided to walk out in protest.
As they were walking out, the deputy prime minister could be heard quipping that it was “better” without the opposition MPs in the House.
In his speech, Najib elaborated on the third thrust of the 9MP, which involved strategies to overcome socio-economic inequality in a constructive and productive manner, to avoid misinterpretation by any party.
“The approach taken under this thrust is to reduce the imbalances among ethnic groups, between rural and urban areas and among regions. I would like to explain that the implementation of strategies under this thrust will not exclude opportunities to other groups,” he said.
Mahfuz Omar (Pokok Sena-PAS) asked if the government was admitting that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had missed out some points when he presented his speech on the mid-term review last Thursday by allowing Najib to provide further explanations.
Opposition leader Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (Permatang Pauh-PKR) questioned why was there a need for Najib to add further explanations to the mid-term review.
“The review by the PM finished before 1pm last Thursday. They had time until 5.30pm,” she said. The House went into a recess until Monday right after Abdullah had presented the review.
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