KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 — DAP’s Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh, the first lawmaker to be ejected from the 14th Parliament, refused today to retract his "gangster” remarks against Umno Youth members as a matter of principle.

Ramkarpal, speaking to reporters in the Parliament lobby, argued that a ruling made by Parliament Speaker Datuk Mohammad Ariff Md Yusof had allowed him to remain in the House.

"So that is my stand, for that reason as a matter of principle, the question of withdrawing (my statement), it does not arise,” he added.

Ramkarpal was ejected from the House following a heated exchange this morning between him and several Opposition MPs.

The argument stemmed from Ramkarpal’s remark describing several Umno Youth members as "gangsters”.

The entire exchange took up one hour before the lunch break and exhausted the time allocated for Sungai Petani MP Datuk Johari Abdul’s debate on the royal address.

It was only resolved approximately 20 minutes after the sitting resumed.

Ariff did not say how long Ramkarpal is barred from the Lower House, but when asked, Ramkarpal said he expects to return to the House tomorrow, after serving a mandatory 24-hour ejection period.