Published: Tuesday November 10, 2009 MYT 9:11:00 PM
Parliament: Zul Nordin slapped with temporary suspension
By LEE YUK PENG and ZULKIFLI ABD RAHMAN
KUALA LUMPUR: Zulkifli Noordin (PKR-Kulim-Bandar Baru) continued making the news Wednesday when he was slapped with a 30min suspension order by Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia after he had got into an argument with Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin during the winding-up debate on Budget 2010.
However, the MP was allowed to enter the House to continue taking part in the debate less than 15min later.
Khaled was winding up his speech on his ministry when Zulkifli stood up at about 7.50pm to ask about a situation involving Malaysian students at the prestigous Al-Azhar university in Egypt about two weeks ago.
Zulkifli wanted to know the action that will be taken by the ministry on the fate of the students, who were allegedly banned by the Malaysian Students Department (MSD) from attending a lecture on the hadith given by the Egyptian mufti or its head of state of religious affairs.
He added that the MSD in Egypt had issued a directive banning the students from attending the lecture, which was given the green light by Al-Azhar.
When Khaled replied that the MSD didn’t interfere with the matter, an unsatisfied Zulkifli kept questioning him on the issue.
“How can you say this when the MSD director in Egypt himself banned our students from attending the lecture,” Zulkifli said.
Several minutes of argument ensued before Pandikar Amin ordered Zulkifli to leave the House for 30 minutes.
Zulkifli stood his ground and refused to budge.
“I will not allow the debate to continue until you leave,” Pandikar Amin said.
Silence followed for several seconds before Zulkifli agreed to leave.
However, he was allowed to enter the House after the Speaker decided that Zulkifli had cooled down.
Later, when Zulkifli questioned Khaled about the matter again, the minister replied that he would check the matter with the MSD first.
Zulkifli told reporters at the Parliament lobby that the ministry should take action on the matter because the students were barred from taking part in a lecture, which he said were part of their study programme.
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