Wan Fayhsal refers home minister to Parliament privileges committee

Wan Fayhsal refers home minister to Parliament privileges committee


Published: Jan 7, 2025 7:34 PM


Summary

• Bersatu supreme council member Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal has referred Home Ministery Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to the Parliamentary Rights and Privileges Committee.

• Wan Fayhsal says this is for allegedly misleading the house on Nov 7 when Saifuddin told Dewan Rakyat that the royal addendum for Najib Abdul Razak’s house arrest was hearsay.

• The Bersatu leader says this is contrary to the Court of Appeal’s ruling yesterday, which allowed Najib to proceed with a judicial review compelling the government to address the addendum.

Bersatu supreme council member Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal has referred Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to the Parliamentary Rights and Privileges Committee.

This is over Saifuddin’s remarks in the Dewan Rakyat on Nov 7 last year regarding the royal addendum related to former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, which the former had called hearsay.

“The latest developments in the Court of Appeal yesterday are the opposite and contradict the home minister's statement: the royal addendum really exists and is not ‘hearsay’,” Wan Fayhsal said in a statement on Facebook.

Attached to the post was a series of images depicting his letter to Dewan Rakyat speaker Johari Abdul.

Green light for judicial review

Yesterday, the Court of Appeal allowed Najib to proceed with a judicial review at the High Court, requiring the government to address claims regarding the alleged addendum proposing house arrest for the former Pekan MP.

The addendum came after a Pardons Board decision reduced Najib’s original 12-year prison sentence and RM210 million fine to six years and RM50 million in the SRC International corruption case.

On Nov 7, Saifuddin told opposition chief whip Takiyuddin Hassan that the addendum was hearsay while referring to the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision in July, which dismissed Najib’s legal action to affirm the addendum’s existence.

‘Speaker should expedite motion’

Meanwhile, Wan Fayhsal said that Saifuddin had misled the House in violation of Standing Order 36(12).

According to the Standing Orders of the Dewan Rakyat, 36(12) states that any member who imputes statements that mislead the Dewan Rakyat is in contempt of the house and may be referred to the privileges committee for the offence.

Wan Fayhsal added that contrary to Saifuddin’s statement, the addendum’s existence was proven through a letter from the Pahang palace to Najib’s son Mohd Nizar.

He called on Johari to expedite his motion in light of the upcoming sitting.

Dewan Rakyat speaker Johari Abdul


Yesterday, Saifuddin said the Prison Department never received the addendum, only instructions on the former premier’s sentence being commuted.

In his response to allegations by Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah that the minister and others had concealed the addendum’s existence, Saifuddin said it was impossible to enforce a house arrest order that was never relayed.