KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 — Opposition MPs were in uproar after they were not allowed to debate on Deputy Prime MInister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s 47 dropped charges in Parliament today.
They accused Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul of reneging on a promise that they would be allowed to do so after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s speech today on the 12th Malaysia Plan.
“We were told we could bring up the matter of Zahid’s dropped charges after Anwar’s speech but then after it ended the Speaker just postponed the meeting till tomorrow. We brought up article 18(1) and asked if we could bring it up but now we don’t even know if we can debate it tomorrow.
“I mean we’re used to this Madani government lying but I didn’t expect them to do so in the Dewan Rakyat when the public is watching,” said MP for Arau Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim.
MP for Machang Wan Ahmad Fayshal had last Friday asked for an emergency motion to discuss why the Attorney General (AG) had decided to grant Zahid a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA).
He said they did not get the chance to meet the AG this morning when he was at Parliament adding that he felt the Speaker was given instructions not to discuss the issue.
“We didn’t get a chance to meet him but instead of him we want the Law minister to explain as it’s under her purview,” he said.
Earlier before proceedings began, Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan had asked Johari if they could bring the emergency motion despite it not being related to house matters today.
He and others accused Johari of being controlled by Anwar to which he said he wasn’t and he may give Wan Fayshal the opportunity later while also telling Takiyuddin that Wan Fayshal’s motion had been rejected.
The prosecution decided to discontinue and drop the Yayasan Akalbudi trial against Zahid — which resulted in the High Court granting a DNAA on Zahid for all 47 charges he faced.
Zahid, who is also Umno president and Barisan Nasional chairman, faced 47 charges in this case, namely, 12 counts of criminal breach of trust in relation to over RM31 million of his charitable organisation Yayasan Akalbudi’s funds, 27 counts of money laundering, and eight counts of bribery charges of over RM21.25 million in alleged bribes.
The move to not pursue the trial was derided by both sides of the political divides, with Anwar later stressing that he was not involved in the decision.
