KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 — DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang was suspended today from Dewan Rakyat for six months for interrupting House proceedings as the redelineation report was about to be tabled in Parliament.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia requested the government to table a motion to suspend the Gelang Patah MP after the latter refused to obey an expulsion order from Pandikar.
Pandikar eventually stopped the House proceedings for 30 minutes due to Lim’s refusal to leave his seat.
Lim had initially stood up to ask Pandikar to clarify which powers he had used as Speaker to impose an embargo on the redelineation report which was given to MPs last Thursday.
“I just want to ask what powers you have to impose an embargo?” he asked.
Pandikar however refused to answer the matter, having already ruled that MPs should all sit down and not raise any more issues in order to pave way for the tabling of the report by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
He expelled Lim from the House, but the latter adamantly refused to leave his seat despite being asked to do so by men-at-arms at Parliament.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman later tabled a motion to suspend Lim for six months, which Pandikar passed before halting proceedings as Opposition MPs continued to criticise his handling of the sitting.
He subsequently threatened to allow the police in the House to forcefully remove Lim from the House if the latter continued to refuse to leave his seat.
