First session of Parliament concludes with many changes

NST (1/6/08): The first session of the 12th Parliament opened on April 28 with many changes. Various quarters are relieved that the 16-day session ended on Thursday before resuming in June.

It was punctuated with high drama, surprises and antics from the MPs, of whom 99 were first-time legislators.

Many opposition and government MPs fought for the opportunity to drive home their points during debates, probably prompted by the live telecasts of them beamed by RTM1 for 30 minutes.

The first session attracted a lot of attention because the Barisan Nasional (BN) was returned to power in the March 8 general election with only a simple majority winning 140 seats with the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) alliance of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), DAP and PAS grabbing 81 seats while another seat went to an Independent candidate.

With a bigger opposition bench, Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia and his deputies, Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar and Datuk Ronald Kiandee, faced a daunting task in dealing with the point of order raised time and again by MPs on the first day of the question and answer session.

Eventually, only three questions could be answered by the government during the question time before it moved on with the debate on the royal address.

"This is because everybody wants to be on television,” was Datuk Ibrahim Ali’s (Independent-Pasir Mas) take on what happened.

Ibrahim was also chided by Datuk Abdul Ghapur Salleh (BN-Kalabakan) for not wearing a lounge suit as required during the swearing-in ceremony.

However, Pandikar said the ruling did not apply to Ibrahim as an Independent MP he did not have a Chief Whip to remind him.

Ibrahim quipped, “Congratulations, Speaker sir, you are a learned man.”

Datuk Anifah Aman (BN-Kimanis) and Abdul Ghapur also warned BN leaders that the political tsunami experienced by the coalition in the general election would become even worse for it if the problems faced by Sabahans were not dealt with.

"It does not mean that when we champion the aspirations of the people, we are going against the government. It does not mean that when use strong words we want to jump ship. What we are telling the Dewan, the people of Sabah will not jump ship like in five states in the peninsula,” said Anifah.

In another breath, he said it was not impossible to “move from a bungalow to a terrace house if you are given enough space. Never mind a terrace house if you are accorded the same facilities but in a bungalow you are made to sleep beside the toilet,” he said in referring to the raw deal Sabahans were getting from the federal government.

Talk that some BN MPs from Sabah would jump ship became rife after PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had time and again expounded that the opposition would form the government with the defection of disgruntled BN MPs from Sabah.

Speaking to the press outside the Dewan Rakyat, Abdul Rahman Dahalan (BN-Kota Belud) lent weight to the talk by saying that he was offered benefits which could last three generations if he were to defect to PKR.

He lodged reports with the Anti-Corruption Agency in Sabah and Kuala Lumpur.

The Dewan Rakyat sitting also saw both BN and opposition MPs trading inauspicious remarks like `Projek Babi Negara’ by Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) when he reacted to Khairy Jamaluddin’s (BN-Rembau) insinuation on PKR accronym as “Projek Khinzir Raksasa”. At another time, the Dewan Rakyat was interrupted for 10 minutes when Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Idris Haron said a Tamil word `ukkar’ (sit down) but some MPs said it could become a vulgar word if wrongly pronounced.

N. Gobalakrishnan (PKR-Padang Serai) was reproached when he approached the speaker’s bench and whispered the meaning of the word to him.

On another occasion, Gobalakrishnan brought P Waythamoorthy’s six-year-old daughter to Parliament’s lobby to celebrate her birthday.

Waythamoorthy is one of the leaders of the Hindraf organisation and is on self-imposed exile overseas following the detention of five of its other leaders under the Internal Security Act.

Ibrahim, meanwhile, had the misfortune of being mobbed in Parliament’s lobby by about 30 disabled people who took exception to his remarks against wheelchair-bound Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) for not standing up when raising a point of order.

On seeing this, Datuk Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan,) who is also the Backbencher’s Club deputy chairman, pointed out the need to tighten security in the Dewan Rakyat.

Unlike before, Parliament’s car park was full during the session while the media centre was crowded as more reporters were assigned to cover the developments at the august house.

As for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, they were seen working at their offices at the Dewan Rakyat when their presence was not required.

On Wednesday, for the first time, a supply bill was approved through block voting - 92 Barisan Nasional MPs voted in favour of the bill, 60 opposition MPs voted against it while another did not cast his vote.

The Supplementary Supply Bill 2008 (2007) on the provision to the statutory fund an amount of RM16.810 billion was earlier debated at the committee stage.

The decision to call for block voting caused many MPs including Abdullah and Najib to rush into the Dewan Rakyat when the bell was rang.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz was also seen calling the MPs to come back to the house.

When Wan Junaidi announced that a lone MP did not register his vote, many MPs turned their heads towards Ibrahim Ali.

Several opposition MPs quipped that they might be lucky the next time. (Ahmad Shukran Shaharuddin - Bernama)

Babi Negara in Dewan Rakyat

Give prosecution powers to MCAC, says Khairy

The Edge Daily (13/5/08): Khairy Jamaluddin (Rembau-BN) has called for the Malaysian Commission for Anti-Corruption (MCAC) to be given prosecution powers as part of the country’s efforts to combat corruption.

“The implementation of the suggestion will allow the commission to focus on the prosecution of corruption cases and lift the burden off the Attorney-General’s Chambers, which is facing a backlog of cases,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

Debating the motion of thanks on the royal address, Khairy praised the government’s effort to fight corruption by restructuring the Anti-Corruption Agency into an independent MCAC and to provide protection to whistleblowers.

“I also hope the government will continue its effort to combat corruption through the use of modern technology,” he said, adding that this would allow for money spent on anti-corruption efforts to bring the best value.

He said the government could use information technology to lower the cost of procurement and channel the savings to development projects.

Citing the example of electronic procurement, Khairy said it could ensure that goods would be sold to the government at reasonable prices, adding that this system had lowered the costs to giant corporations by up to 25%.

In his speech, Khairy also welcomed Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar’s proposal to review the annual licensing requirement for the print media, which would eliminate the bureaucratic restriction on print media’s freedom.

According to him, an open, responsible and credible mass media was a pillar of democratic system and there should be an integrated effort to increase the credibility of all forms of mass media.

He said new journalists, including journalists for weblogs and Internet news portals, should also enhance their skills by undergoing professional training like new journalists in the mainstream media. “This will expose them to the basics of journalism such as ethical journalism and laws regarding sedition and false news, to produce responsible journalists.”

Once the media industry could demonstrate a high degree of professionalism, including a greater sense of responsibility, the government could transfer its role of regulating the media to an independent body, Khairy said.

Khairy also highlighted that there were models for a commission of complaints on the media in several countries to prevent seditious news reports which could incite public anger.

“If this mechanism can be established and the regulation of the media can be done independently without affecting public peace and security, and if the industry is serious about building up their capability and skill for ethical, fair and responsible journalism, then the Printing Presses and Publications Act can be abolished,” he said.

Khairy also criticised the opposition for promising to lower oil prices by tapping Petronas’ coffers to win support during the general election.

He said the government received RM48.3 billion, representing 66.2% of Petronas’ gross profit, which went straight into the government’s budget for development purposes in 2007.

“Among others, the balance of the profit is used for exploration and production activities in foreign countries. Is it wrong for Petronas to look after our future to ensure we can at least share these foreign oil reserves when our reserves dry up?”

Khairy also called for Petronas to hold a special briefing and table its complete financial report in parliament to prove that the government and the national oil company had nothing to hide.

There was a commotion when he touched on the issue of food crisis and accused the Selangor state government of giving top priority to “Projek Khinzir Raksasa” (mammoth pig project) or PKR, which is also the acronym of the largest opposition party.

He was referring to the decision of the PKR-led Selangor state government to proceed with the centralised pig farming project in Kuala Langat.

Khairy also claimed that PAS had lost its “teeth” as it failed to take DAP to task on issues such as the social contract and the Malay monarchy.

Dismissing Pakatan Rakyat as just a public relations ploy among those with different ideologies, he said PAS did not even bring up the Islamic state once it became a “junior partner” in Pakatan Rakyat.

A shouting match with name-calling ensued as Khairy refused to ,allow other members of parliament to interject his allegations and questions posed to the opposition.

At one point, Mahfuz Omar (Pokok Sena-PAS) responded by saying that the pig farming project in Selangor was actually approved by the previous state government led by Umno.

Retaliating to Khairy’s twist on PKR’s acronym, he said it was “Projek Babi Negara” (national pig project), which is a play on Barisan Nasional’s (BN) acronym.

Play on PKR acronym draws sharp protests

NST (13/5/08): What's in an acronym? Quite a lot, judging from the reactions of some MPs in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

It started with a play on PKR, the acronym for Parti Keadilan Rakyat, by the BN backbencher for Rembau, Khairy Jamaluddin.

Khairy, who had been talking about food self-sufficiency, said statistics showed that apart from chicken and pork, all other food was imported to meet local demand.

"But this is not enough, and a state government has made it its priority to approve a monster pig breeding project or, Projek Khinzir Raksasa or, in short, PKR," he said.

This remark brought a sharp protest from the PKR member for Kulim Bandar Baru, Zulkifli Nordin, who demanded a retraction.

But Khairy refused and maintained that his use of the acronym was not aimed at anyone and that it was merely an abbreviation.

Mahfuz Omar (Pas-Pokok Sena) shouted that pig breeding programmes could be named project Babi Negara or BN.

After all, he said, the BN government too had provided assistance for the project, which was initiated by the previous Selangor BN administration.

This brought howls of derision from the backbenchers who felt that unlike Khairy, the opposition had deliberately coined an abbreviation which rhymed with Barisan Nasional.

Deputy speaker Datuk Ronald Kiandee had his hands full keeping order and the shouting abated when Khairy ended his speech.

Khairy's run-in with the opposition was the culmination of repeated attempts by the opposition to get him to allow them to seek clarifications.

He had steadfastly refused as he was running short on time.

"You make allegations against everyone, but you don't want to give way to us," chided Chow Kon Yeow (DAP-Tanjong), but Khairy refused to budge.

Earlier in the debate, Khairy called on the government to review its fuel subsidy programme which he said was not benefiting the target group.

He also called on the government to provide a special briefing in Parliament on Petronas and its financial position.

Khairy said the briefing was essential to show that the government was not hiding anything from the public.

Khairy's debate turns into a 'piggy' affair

The Sun (12/5/08): The maiden debate of Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau), the son-in-law of the prime minister, on the motion of thanks for the royal address in Parliament today, turned into a name-calling affair.

Khairy riled the Opposition MPs when he gave a new definition to the acronym PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat). He called it Projek Khinzir Raksasa (monstrous pig-farming project) -- an apparent reference to the Selangor government's approval of the pig-farming project in Sepang..

Not to be outdone, Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) defined the project as Projek Babi Negara (national pig project) -- a reference to BN.

The name-calling started soon after MPs from Pakatan Rakyat (PR) – defined as the 'Public Relations' alliance by Khairy -- were not allowed to seek clarification despite being hurled various accusations by Khairy in his speech.

Khairy had declined to allow any MP to have the floor during his debate, giving the 30-minute time limit as his reason for doing so.

Matters heated up after Khairy accused the Opposition of fishing for votes in the general election when it promised to reduce fuel prices.

Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) then called for Point-of-Order referring to Rule 36 of the Standing Orders and refused to divulge its provision until Khairy sat down.

"This is not a reading lesson," Karpal Singh explained, to which Khairy said there was no point to his Rule-of-Order and continued reading his speech, calling for a briefing to be organised so Petronas and the government can clarify about the monies and to clear any impression that there were funds that could be used to reduce the price of fuel.

At this point Nga Kor Ming (DAP-Taiping) was also refused to seek clarification as Khairy quipped: "What? You don’t understand? I’m not giving way, please sit down."

In his debate, he congratulated the government on its steps of reform to the administration, including the announcement of the Judicial Appointments Commission, the Malaysian Commission of Anti-Corruption, the government’s ability to maintain a low price of fuel as compared with other Asean countries.

"The Opposition alleged that BN leaders are arrogant and elite and ask us to look at ourselves. However, just two months after being called Yang Berhormat, who is arrogant in the house and brags that they will be in power of Putrajaya in a few months?

"Who is actually setting the democratic principles in the back seat by offering BN members a place in their party through the back door to shape the government?" Khairy questioned.

"They do not dare see their own reflection of a brittle coalition and that is why I say it is a Public Relations Alliance which looks nice in the eyes of the people, attractive and looks strong but actually, has nothing fundamental," he charged.

This then erupted into a loud war of words between the numerous PR and BN MPs who shouted insults at each other simultaneously, almost throughout the remaining of Khairy’s debate.

When Deputy Speaker Datuk Ronald Kiandee finally took charge of the situation several minutes later, he held that he was limiting the next parliamentarians to debate on their motion of thanks to 20 minutes only.

Opposition disturbs Khairy's debate

Bernama (12/5/08): Realising that the opposition members in parliament were trying to disrupt his debate on the royal address, Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin refused to make way.

This riled up some of the lawmakers and the atmosphere got even more heated up when the government backbencher touched on the oil price increase and linked it to the political agenda of the opposition which he said had played on the issue to win votes in the March 8 general election.

Khairy was debating on the motion of thanks for the speech by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong at the opening of parliament's 12th session recently.

He also said that the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) adviser (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) had lied to the people when he constantly boasted and reminded the people that when he was Finance Minister, there was no oil price hike.

"He forgot to inform that when he was Finance Minister, the world price for crude oil was only US$12 to US$26 a barrel. Now the price has exceeded US$120 a barrel. So what was so difficult during his time?"

Khairy said he refused to allow the other MPs to interrupt his speech because of the limited time given to speak.

This caused Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) and some of the other lawmakers to refer to Section 31 (b) of the parliament Standing Order on the right of parliamentarians to give clarification, 36(4) on using disrespectful language and 36(10) on using words that could arouse anger and racial tension.

Zulkifli Noordin (PKR-Kulim-Bandar Baharu) stood up and said: "If (you are) scared, then don't be an MP. Might as well as just switch on the tape (recorder)."

Khairy had earlier referred to the PKR abbreviation as Projek Khinzir Raksasa (Mammoth Pig Project) which prompted some of the lawmakers, including N. Gobalakrishnan (PKR-Padang Serai) and Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (PKR-Machang), to stand up to seek clarification.

Mahfuz Omar (Pas-Pokok Sena) then suggested that Khairy read his speech to Kemas kindergarten children if he did not wish to be interrupted before saying that PBN stood for Projek Babi Nasional (National Pig Project), drawing laughter in the House.

Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Ronald Kiandee appealed for calm and said that Khairy did not go against the Standing Order and could continue with the debate.

Is KJ the young and the restless ‘Prince of Darkness’?

NST (12/5/08): At the prime age of 32, Khairy Jamaludin has somewhat effortlessly elevated himself as perhaps the most maligned political operative-turned-elected representative in the Malaysian political orbit, more so in its riotous blogosphere, next to the dominating presence of a certain ex-Prime Minister and a certain ex-Deputy Prime Minister. Placing his name in the same stratosphere as Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for this dispatch is also certain to attract a dense level of malignancy.

No matter. Khairy is always a good news item, even if the news adds a little more notoriety for him. He is finger-licking good copy for political commentaries, star character in the sensationalistic stories of Raja Petra Kamarudin’s ‘Khairy Chronicles’ for a mix of hair-raising parables and seeming truth, fodder for gossip at all levels of society, punching bag for the Pakatan Rakyat in their crowd-pleasing ceramahs and more recently, zesty prey for opposition MPs to grind razor-sharp axes for the chop in their Dewan Rakyat debates and rejoinders.

Endlessly battered and scapegoated, he’s still a bothersome presence for many of his critics and he is, amazingly, still in one piece, more energised than before. His ascendancy to MP for Rembau is not long and not arduous, though he weathered a national onslaught that befell the sturdiest of Barisan stalwarts in the March 8 polls. He also scored huge political merit points when Malaysiakini apologised to him for misreporting that there was a recount against him during counting for the Rembau parliamentary seat on polling night.

Khairy is a dream “babe magnet” for all forms of political discourse and the man seems to be absorbing the fire arrows with a singular, “come-and-get-me” youthful temerity. He is blamed – fairly or unfairly, rightfully or wrongfully – for all that is wrong with this country, from cronyism, interference in the conception and running of Government policies due to his filial proximity to the PM, blanket dominance of major mega Government contracts.

But if the pejoratives are believable, is Khairy the new “Prince of Darkness”, the boy who may soon be king? Not if the raucous crowd of political bloodhounds dogged in their collective efforts to bring him down, or at least, cut him down a notch or two, can help it. Yet, he is not without charm, persuasive powers and sophistication (not to mention a dapper in a stylish suit), a slick marketer capable of presenting a well-structured sales pitch and a self-advertiser of his own untrammelled talent for timing and opportunity. Within meteoric parameters, he rose to power as Umno Youth deputy chief and won a deputy presidency in the Football Association of Malaysia in October last year, all within four years.

The timing and opportunity to unleash his aspirations, vision and ambition arrived when he stood up to deliver his maiden Dewan Rakyat speech in support of the royal address. And what an explosive, not-safe-at-any-altitude speech it was – cogent, forceful and constructive on pressing social, economic and political issues of the day, when he was not rudely interjected by rival MPs. And yet, he was mockingly and derisively contemptuous of rival MPs, Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) in particular, and scathing in his attacks against Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat. In a sense, Khairy was releasing months, if not years, of frustration of being unable to freely respond to all attacks for fear of political reprisals.

Khairy, while supporting the PM’s move to set up the Judiciary Appointments Commission which he believed would not erode the Prime Minister’s prerogative or the monarchy’s sanctity to give consent to new judges, called for commission representatives to be also filled by ex-judges and legal intellects of “knowledge, experience and integrity.” But his more urgent call was for the commission to have indictment powers, more so to release the burden of backlog piling up at the Attorney-General’s chambers.

He supported withdrawal of red tape conundrum to license the print media but his proposal that bloggers be given the same professional training as mainstream media journalists would likely raise heckles among the more boisterous bloggers while suggesting that if the media can agree to emulate a neutral Media Complaints Commission to check slander and defamation, and agree to self-imposed ethics, fairness and responsibility, the tough printing presses act can go the way of the dodo. By this time, he also deflected three interjections, refusing to give way to rival MPs to seek clarification.

Excitement and incitement brewed after Khairy articulated the need to reform national subsidies for a truer target and while he was elaborating on the oil/petrol price crises, he launch the first of his well-prepared attacks against Anwar Ibrahim, accusing the ex-Finance Minister of conveniently forgetting that during his eight-year Cabinet tenure of zero petrol price hike, oil was a lowly US$16-26 a barrel, unlike the current prices that have surpassed US$120 a barrel.

“What was so difficult about his era? Oil prices were extremely low,” Khairy thundered. “Don’t be self-congratulatory when you are actually fooling the people…the Government’s handling of the oil prices now to be the lowest among Asean nations is far more praiseworthy. This is not even opening the story of the PKR adviser’s absolute failure to check the 1997 financial crisis!”

You can sense the blood boiling at the PKR end of the House and still Khairy won’t budge from his refusal to allow a single clarification to his attacks. Emboldened by the momentum of his speech, Khairy kicked in the booster rockets. As he outlined efforts to contain the food crisis and offered some pointers on reducing the burden of production, he pointed out that chicken and pork were the only food production that were a 100 per cent self-sufficient, so much so that a certain State Government had made pig rearing a priority project that he handily coined as “Projek Khinzir Raksasa” (Mammoth Pig Project), alluding to the PKR acronym and the fact that the word ’khinzir’ to replace ‘babi’ was Anwar’s doing when he was DPM. Here’s the irony: for his entire rebuke against Anwar, Khairy reminded veterans in the august hall of a 1970s Anwar Ibrahim at the peak of his fire breathing grandiloquence, doused somewhat when he joined the Government in 1982.

The ruckus that followed was predictable but the intensity wasn’t. A dozen indignant PKR, DAP and Pas Mps sprang up like multiple jack-in-the-boxes, demanding clarification but only Zulkifli Noordin (PKR-Kulim Bandar Baru) was given the floor for his point of order, demanding that Khairy withdraw the acronym under Standing Orders 36 (4) as words that were improperly uttered.

Khairy steadfastly defended his ground while under the virulent attacks of rival backbenchers, refusing to give way when a slew of DAP, PKR and Pas MPs demanded clarification on his attacks. Sensing that Khairy was never giving way, other rival MPs used an alternative tact to deter Khairy by invoking various point of orders: that Khairy was reading (BN backbenchers shouted back that even the Opposition leader read while debating), MPs had the right to seek clarification (the Speaker stated that KJ had the right not to give way), uttering words that cause pain (it wasn’t clear what the Speaker ruled but the this triggered titters from Barisan backbenchers who shouted back that Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) uttered far more worse improper words).

Lim took the liberty of elaborating his point of order by an off-tangent demonstration – a newspaper report that Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik had spoken improperly and misbehaved. You should have heard the pure cacophony of clashing human voices that erupted – Khairy and BN backbenchers shouting at Lim to stand down while the DAP adviser continued droning while opposition backbenchers launched collective shouts and screams, including a high-pitch vent by Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah) that summarised the verbal orgy.

While the verbal free-for-all hurtled towards a free fall, Khairy literally played to the gallery: he turned to the public gallery directly behind him filled with secondary school students of the Malacca High School, smirking at the confusion and mockingly pointed with his hand to the rival MPs side as if he was saying: “See…this is the kind of MPs you have for the Opposition.”

In between the vocal vents, verbal wrestling and trash talk, out came this epithet from N. Gobalakrishnan (PKR-Padang Serai): “Babi negara!” and in unison, Khairy and a dozen BN backbenchers jumped, shouting: “Who is babi negara? Say it! Say it!”

When the Speaker managed to douse the fire breathers who threatened to inflamed proceedings, Khairy found a little bit of peace to continue with his speech, slamming Lim Kit Siang’s personal attacks he endured last week (“richest unemployed man in the world”), lambasting Pas’ fear of DAP, fear of raising the Islamic state struggle and fear of chiding Karpal when the latter questioned the powers of the Sultan of Perak in the state’s state religious director’s transfer fiasco, inferring that the Pakatan Rakyat acronym of PR actually stood for “public relations” where policy-making by opposition parties were PR stunts.

But KJ hit sonic boom when he lashed out the following: “Although you sleep in one bed, one mattress, one pillow but you dream differently! There are some who dream of flying carpets, some who dream of flying rockets and some who dream of flying pigs!” Eight indignant opposition MPs stood up like marionettes strung up by a puppeteer but Khairy insisted that no one gets a chance to seek clarification. “Get your clarification on your own time. My time is precious,” he barked back.

With time running out and sensing that the agitated rival MPs will not allow him a landmine-free passage to conclude his seven-page speech, Khairy abruptly ended his speech one page less by debunking Pakatan Rakyat’s boast that they were better administrators than the previous Barisan State Governments, especially belittling the Selangor Government’s exclusive allocation of RM500,000 only to PR assemblymen after demanding that the Federal Government spread allocation justly to all elected reps.

“Is that fair? You don’t walk the talk,” Khairy contended. “This is just two months of ruling and you have cleverly lied and manipulated. If the Kuala Krai MP claim that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, the Pakatan Rakyat’s action proves that even a little power corrupts very quickly….”

Pig-farming takes centrestage at Dewan

The Star (12/5/08): Pig-farming projects took centrestage in the Dewan Rakyat as MPs from both sides of the House got into a mud-slinging fight on Monday.

"A state government had put its priority in approving the Projek Khinzir Raksasa (Gigantic Pig Project) or its short form PKR," said Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau) when highlighting the issue of self-sufficient commodities - rice, beef, vegetables and mutton.

This riled the Opposition, especially members of PKR, who stood up and defended their party.

But none of them was given a chance to interject as Khairy had been refusing to allow anyone to seek explanation since the beginning of his speech.

Mahfuz Omar (PAS - Pokok Sena) then took a pot shot back at Barisan Nasional by saying that PBN was meant for Projek Babi Negara (National Pig Farming Project).

Khairy demanded to know who was the person who shouted and asked for a retraction.

However, he did not manage to find out the “culprit".

Despite the long and heated argument, Khairy managed to finish reading his five-and-a-half page speech.

So far 25 MPs had taken part in the motion of thanks, which left 128 more MPs to give their speech.

The debate session will resume at 2.30pm.