KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 — Three Opposition MPs were booted out from the Dewan Rakyat today, for allegedly insulting the Dewan Rakyat in a joint statement made against Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia and their refusal to apologise over it earlier this month.
Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee had ordered the three DAP lawmakers — Beruas MP Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham, Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming, and Batu Gajah MP V. Sivakumar — to be escorted out of the Dewan Rakyat after evaluating the statements made by the three MPs.
They were barred for 10 days starting from today.
“I have evaluated the joint statement made on March 7 and found that the accusations made against the Speaker was an insult towards him and the Dewan Rakyat as well as tarnishing the name and prestige of the Parliament,” the Dewan Rakyat was told.
Ngeh and Sivakumar, who had protested against the ban, had questioned the reason behind the suspension. Nga was not present in Parliament.
“This is a political decision. We should have been given the chance to debate,” said Sivakumar.
Barisan Nasional lawmakers had supported the suspension and called for the duo to exit the Dewan Rakyat.
Setiu MP Datuk Che Mohamad Zulkifly Jusoh said their action was “rude”, while Pendang MP Datuk Othman Abdul had shouted for them to “get out”.
In a joint statement on March 7, the MPs had demanded for Pandikar’s resignation for refusing to allow discussions on certain matters in Parliament.
Pandikar had since in a letter on March 13 said that he would take action against the lawmakers if they did not apologise for their remarks.
