KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 — The PAS MP for Besut, Datuk Che Mohamad Zulkifly Jusoh, was kicked out of Parliament today after failing to heed the deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker’s warning to “sit down”.
Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Ramli Mohd Nor sent the Besut MP out for three days while he was giving his opinion on a Standing Order raised by the PAS MP for Kota Baru Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan.
The latter had wanted to know why Bahasa Melayu was not used to interpret the term “stalking” in one of the amendment Bills that will be tabled today.
“Besut, please leave the Dewan Rakyat for three days, starting today,” Ramli told Che Mohamad Zulkifly after three warnings had been issued and ignored.
Takiyuddin had raised three Standing Orders — 51, 62, and 8 — right before the Deputy Speaker called for the next item in the meeting order, the tabling of Bills for the day.
The PAS MP said two of four Bills were only provided to lawmakers in English, which would hamper their debate in Malay.
“The amendment proposal that was included under the Penal Code, (Section) 507A — stalking — what is stalking? Is it mengintai (stalking), menghendap (ambush), skodeng (a colloquialism for peeping)? Which is it?” Takiyuddin asked in Parliament today.
He further asked if it was now the practice in the Dewan Rakyat, before saying only Bahasa Malaysia versions should be provided if just one was to be issued.
Takiyuddin then cited Standing Order 8 that said Bahasa Malaysia was the official language in parliamentary meetings, but the Deputy Speaker said English was permissible although the word “stalking” should only be used during debate with permission.
Ramli replied that the Federal Constitution’s Article 152 that recognised Malay as the national language also allowed Parliament and state assemblies to use English until it was decided otherwise, while the Standing Order also allowed the use of English with permission.
He then said that Parliament has not, to his memory, decided that English was no longer acceptable for the purpose of legislation.
“My understanding is, as long as Parliament does not amend the Constitution, the use of English is allowed in Parliament,” he said.
Che Mohamad then stood up to say that Malaysians who did not know English would not understand the legal amendments that were only done in the language, prompting Ramli to repeat his remarks about the Federal Constitution.
The Deputy Speaker told Che Mohamad that he had personally raised the same issue before, but said that so long as planned constitutional amendments to address the issue have not been passed, then Parliament must follow the existing legal provisions.
“If you understand what I have just said, you will not raise the matter anymore,” he said.
Despite this, Takiuyuddin persisted in his argument that the omission of Bahasa Malaysia text was not customary in the Dewan Rakyat.
By that time, Ramli had asked Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) Ramkarpal Singh for clarification.
Ramkarpal said the English text of the Criminal Procedure Code and Penal Code were the authoritative versions, which was why only the English version of the amendments were provided.
Saying there was no ulterior motive in the decision, Ramkarpal also said his predecessor from the Ismail Sabri administration had similarly provided only the English versions of the text.
“I request that the Masjid Tanah MP (Bersatu’s Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin) — she was the deputy minister — and the minister next to her to stand up and confirm that the law was brought in to the Dewan Rakyat in English; please, can you confirm it?” Ramkarpal said.
Takiyuddin rejected this by saying Mas Ermieyati was not his deputy when he had been the law minister during the Muhyiddin administration.
Takiyuddin, deflecting the request by Ramkarpal said the Masjid Tanah MP was not his deputy minister when he was the law minister during the PN’s administration; she was the deputy to Takiyuddin’s successor, Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
Ramkarpal then said he was only asking for a simple confirmation from Mas Ermieyati, before adding that Takiyuddin should already be familiar with which versions of the CPC and Penal Code were authoritative.
“He (Takiyuddin) knows, he is a lawyer,” Ramkarpal added.
At this point, Che Mohamad rose once more, prompting Ramli to expel him.
He also directed Mas Ermieyati to respond to Ramkarpal’s request for confirmation.
“I acknowledge that when I tabled the Bill, there was no resistance from the Opposition bloc (at the time Pakatan Harapan), and when my friend the Kota Baru MP (Takiyuddin) raised this issue... that is his opinion representing a few others as the chief whip of PN,” Mas Ermieyati said.
Ramli then directed that proceedings continue pending the Speaker’s decision on the related motions.
