KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 21): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak lambasted opposition Members of Parliament for staging a walkout during his presentation of Budget 2017 in Dewan Rakyat earlier today, saying they were a disgrace to Parliament.

“In developed countries, they can have different opinions but they don’t behave this way. This also damages the image of the Parliament,” he told reporters at Parliament’s lobby after concluding his Budget speech.

“The important thing here is that the public evaluates their behaviour. We must respect people, even if they have different opinions, ideologies. We must be polite and show good behaviour, because we are leaders, regardless of whether we are from the ruling government or the opposition,” Najib said.

Opposition MPs went into an uproar in the midst of Najib's budget speech when he claimed that certain parties were being overly dramatic when they alleged that Malaysia was facing severe economic turmoil this year.

The comment led to shouted questions from the opposition on the identity of 'Malaysian Official 1', a term mentioned in the US Department of Justice's kleptocracy lawsuit related to funds it said had been siphoned off from 1Malaysia Development Bhd, a strategic investment fund that Najib oversaw as finance minister.