KUALA LUMPUR: Another brief shouting match erupted in Parliament after a former deputy speaker told Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul to remain apolitical as a government official.
The matter began when Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee (PN-Beluran) was debating the motion to suspend Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad (PN-Machang) for six months.
Kiandee argued that Wan Ahmad Fayhsal was not referring to a civil servant when the Machang MP named an Employees Provident Fund (EPF) employee for allegedly being involved in the Malaysia Airports Holding Bhd (MAHB) privatisation deal.
He then added that the motion to suspend Wan Ahmad Fayshal for naming a civil servant during debates was a defective ruling, as Standing Order 36(9) stated that no reference should be made in any debate to the conduct of any MP or public servant.
“When you sit there, you must take off your ‘political shirt’. All decisions and motions must be seen as abiding by the Standing Orders and the Constitution. It cannot be bulldozed,” said Kiandee.
Kiandee’s remarks were met with criticism from MPs, who stood up in protest.
“This is malicious intent. You cannot insult the Speaker that way,” said Howard Lee (PH-Ipoh Timor) while RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong) said that while Kiandee could debate, he should not insult the Speaker.
Johari then said that Kiandee should know better, as he was a former deputy dewan rakyat speaker.
“Beluran is my friend and he has sat here (in the Speaker’s seat) before. I have also been a chief whip before and part of my duties was to advise my friends that hey, you have crossed the line. Best apologise before anything happens," said Johari.
He added that he has waited from January to July, but "Beluran has not apologised".
“I was insulted on YouTube and the Perikatan chairman even said the Speaker must be ‘dicerca’ (condemned). This is very bad, calling everyone to ‘cerca’ me.
“I am still here - not as Johari Abdul, but as the Speaker. I absorb all of this but when you insult a government officer, that is too much,” said Johari.
After that, MPs debated the motion to suspend Wan Ahmad Fayshal, and a bloc vote was eventually called.
110 voted in favour of the suspension, 63 opposed it and three MPs did not vote.
Wan Ahmad Fayshal then stood up and said “I will not surrender” before his microphone was turned off. Perikatan Nasional MPs then said a prayer in the lower House before proceedings were halted for lunch.
The Machang MP was suspended for referencing a poison pen letter when debating the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) 2021 report on July 1.
The letter allegedly revealed the "mastermind" behind the privatisation of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) as an EPF employee, alongside the individual's supposed ill-treatment of colleagues.
The motion to suspend the Perikatan lawmaker was tabled by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
