Speaker shouldn’t have threatened to call police

FMT:

Speaker shouldn’t have threatened to call police, says Guan Eng

Lim Guan Eng (left) says the ejection of Lim Lip Eng from the Dewan Rakyat could have been handled differently

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng today said it was shocking that Dewan Rakyat speaker Azhar Harun had threatened to call police if Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng refused to leave the hall as ordered.

He also said the ejection and five-day suspension of Lip Eng for calling a decision by deputy speaker Azalina Othman Said “stupid” was too harsh and could have been dealt with differently.

Lip Eng had criticised Azalina for not asking Tiong King Sing (GPS-Bintulu) to retract his remark about health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah being “afraid to die”.

Guan Eng (PH-Bagan) said Azhar’s actions had “tainted the august house” when the matter could have been resolved through other means.

“While Lip Eng has accepted the five-day suspension order, it is too harsh and should not have happened.

“We support his call to have the (deputy) speaker’s decision studied, as she had erred by allowing the Bintulu MP to defame and insult (Noor) Hisham in his efforts to curb and control the Covid-19 spread,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

Guan Eng said Jelutong MP RSN Rayer will table a motion to demand that Bintulu MP Tiong King Sing withdraw his remark.

“We hope the government will condemn Bintulu’s statement, as he is a special ambassador to China with a minister’s rank.

“Tiong’s remark cannot be accepted, as it insults the medical workers and frontliners. We condemn his remark,” he said.

Lip Eng, who was with Guan Eng, said his stand on Azalina remained the same, as Tiong’s remark was unacceptable and ought to be censured.

After Azhar had ordered Lip Eng to leave the floor, he threatened to call the police to escort him out if he refused to budge.

“You’re too much, you know. Keep quiet and get out or I’ll call the police,” Azhar said.

Much as I dislike and look down upon Guan Eng (and his father) for his (their) loss of the DAP party's original ideological stance (vis-a-vis in working with racist Mahathir), I have to agree on some parts of his criticism of the Speaker.

Yes, unfortunately, in life there is no black and white, except in the taboo of working with racist Mahathir, wakakaka.

The Comedy of Monkeys gambolling in the Malaysian Monkey House (Parliament) started on Wednesday when a stubborn RSN Rayer was expelled from the Dewan and suspended for 2 days.

MM Online reported on the fiasco: DAP’s Jelutong MP RSN Rayer was booted out of the Dewan Rakyat today after refusing to take his seat as ordered by Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.

Azalina had asked Rayer to take his seat as she wanted to make a ruling on remarks made by Progressive Democratic Party’s (PDP) Bintulu MP Datuk Tiong King Sing about the Health director-general purportedly “being afraid of dying” (takut mati).

“How am I going to make a ruling if you are standing up? Sit down! Jelutong, sit down!” Azalina said repeatedly, as she urged Rayer to take his seat before continuing with her ruling on Tiong’s remarks to the Dewan Rakyat today.

However, after her multiple requests went unheeded, Azalina ordered the sergeant-of-arms to escort Rayer from Parliament.

“Keluar, keluar (Get out, get out) Jelutong,” she said, as MPs chimed in and echoed her calls.

So, apart from RSN Rayer having 2 free holidays, wakakaka, what about the ruling on Tiong's seeming attack on a hapless civil servant?

MM Online continues: Azalina however left it for Tiong to decide if he would like to offer an explanation for his remarks or apologise, while reminding him that he only had a little over five minutes to do so.

[...]

Standing Order 36(9) was then raised by PKR’s Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim, who suggested that the deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker make a ruling.

“Bintulu spoke about the D-G. This falls under Standing Order 36(9),” he said.

His suggestion was also echoed by DAP’s Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh who warned that without a ruling, Tiong’s remarks would go unaddressed.

“A ruling must be done to find out if what Bintulu said is allowed because based on that ruling, we can take further action, or even Bintulu could take further action.

“This matter cannot be left unattended to without a ruling,” he said.

Azalina however asserted that she had already made a ruling and that was to let Tiong offer an explanation.

“I have already made a ruling for Bintulu to make a decision.

“He said he will give an explanation and I have accepted it,” she said.

Anyway, the following day as Speaker Azhar Haron was explaining the Dep Speaker's ruling (pertaining to the previous day's debacle on Tiong's attack on Dr Noor, DAP Lim Lip Eng (Kepong) interrupted him. Speaker Azhar explained he did not have the power to review Azalina’s ruling, but Lip Eng argued: “But that is stupid ruling.”

That broke the straw on Azhar's back, and he shouted: “Can you let me finish talking? How can you say that the Speaker is stupid? Sit down!”, ordering Lip Eng to take his seat.

But, wakakaka, Lip Eng refused and continued to accuse the Speaker of conspiring with Tiong to insult the Health DG, Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

T'was reported that: Lim’s persistence in ignoring Azhar’s repeated warnings — he even said he would call in the police — saw him receive a five-day suspension from Parliament sitting.

OK, Guan Eng has been correct that, notwithstanding the extreme provocation and insubordination by Lip Eng in the Dewan, Azhar should NOT have threatened to call in the Police, as Parliament has its own security detail, headed by an official called the Serjeant-at-Arms. Insofar as the hallowed Dewan Rakyat (and Senate) is concerned, the Police should as far as possible not interfere with parliamentary business, especially within the building itself.

Admittedly, to be fair to Azhar Haron, currently the Dewan Rakyat does not have a Serjeant-at-Arms as the position is yet to be filled. But then the security unit exists and should have been called upon as Azalina did on the previous day (presumably an acting Serjeant-at-Arms was on duty).

The whole farce has been an eff-ing joke, muddled by hot-headedness and politicking. But Tiong's hurtful words are unbecoming, more so when a civil servant like Dr Noor lacks the full capacity to fight back at the seeming injustice there and then.

kaytee's verdict:

(a) Tiong needs to be eff-ed for unbecoming words,

(b) Rayer has already been punished for stubbornness,

(c) Lip Eng too has already been punished for unbecoming rudeness to the Speaker and lack of proper conduct in the Dewan (and he deserves it),

(d) Azhar should watch out for his intemperament, most unbecoming of a House Speaker, though it has to be admitted he was unduly provoked by Lip Eng who was indeed "too much", and

(e) Guan Eng??? I can't fault him on this one, wakakaka.