KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 — Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia has reversed a ruling he made minutes earlier barring lawmakers from even perusing the Election Commission’s redelineation report until next Wednesday.
Pandikar backed down following a deluge of objections from the Opposition bench that included MPs from Pakatan Harapan, PAS and Parti Warisan Sabah.
He then said they were allowed the read and take home the report, which remains under an embargo until next Wednesday, but may not share any of the contents with the media.
He made the ruling under Standing Order 19, shortly after he said that MPs are not even allowed to read the report until it is tabled in Parliament on March 28.
MPs from PH, PAS and Warisan had questioned the reasoning of barring them from reading the report when Pandikar made his earlier ruling.
“This is a new rule. We should be given the right to read and study it,” Opposition leader Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said.
The MPs also said that the report should be made public and not be kept as a secret as voters will be affected by the change in boundaries.
DAP’s Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming later on criticised the decision to embargo the report for up to six days.
“This has never happened before. Why is the report presented and embargoed for almost a week before the debate?” he asked.
