This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 30, 2018
KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia said he will turn a blind eye to Gelang Patah member of parliament (MP) Lim Kit Siang’s presence in the House since the DAP lawmaker has been suspended for six months.
Kit Siang had been ordered out of Parliament on Wednesday after he refused to sit down when instructed by the Speaker. He was asking whether the Speaker had the power under the Federal Constitution to enforce an embargo on the Election Commission’s redelineation report.
“I said I don’t see Gelang Patah,” said Pandikar. “If I see him I will have to ask him to leave again, but he has refused to do so since yesterday.”
Kit Siang was the fourth MP to be booted out of the Dewan Rakyat this week.
The DAP leader’s presence in the House was brought up by Datuk Che Mohamad Zulkifly Jusoh (Setiu-BN), who urged Pandikar to take action against Kit Siang for disobeying the Speaker.
“This is not decent conduct. Therefore, I call on the Speaker to take action under Article 44(5) of the Standing Orders, which states that a suspended MP is not allowed to participate in parliamentary proceedings until the end of the suspension period,” Che Mohamad said.
Subsequently, Kit Siang tried to take the floor to defend himself, but he was ignored by the Speaker, who called on the Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar to table the amendments to Fire Services Bill 2018 for first reading.
When Kit Siang continued to speak, Noh called him a ghost.
“I have been in the Dewan Rakyat for the past 23 years, and am familiar with this voice, but I couldn’t see who it is. It might be a ghost, because only a ghost does not understand human language,” Noh said.
At a press conference yesterday, Seremban MP Anthony Loke said the DAP does not recognise the suspension.
“As far as we are concerned, the motion to suspend Gelang Patah for six months was never passed. Yesterday, the motion was read out by Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, when we stood up and asked for clarification and the motion to be debated,” said Loke.
“Our request was not taken up and it was chaos. The Speaker did not state that the motion was passed,” he said.