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45-minute break to ease ‘tension’
OPPOSITION MPs CLAIM CONFUSION OVER
BUDGET 2009, RM7b STIMULUS PACKAGE
THE Dewan Rakyat adjourned
proceedings for 45 minutes to ease
tension in the House after several
Opposition MPs raised questions
claiming confusion over whether
Budget 2009 tabled on Aug 29 or
the RM7 billion stimulus package
introduced on Tuesday was
approved for second reading.
Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh
Timur), after rising to debate
the budget at committee stage,
asked why the stimulus package
introduced by Deputy Prime
Minister and Finance Minister
Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak
when winding up debate on the
Supply Bill 2009 was not included
in Budget 2009.
He said it was unusual that
Najib’s proposals were not found in
the budget tabled by then finance
minister, Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Abdullah
had tabled a RM207.9 billion
budget on Aug 29.
“Every sen has to be approved
in parliament but this matter (the
stimulus package) has not been
brought before us,” Lim said.
Opposition Leader Datuk
Seri Anwar Ibrahim (PKR-
Permatang Pauh) interjected and
asked the House to distribute the
contents of the stimulus package
for debate.
“Which figure do we use for the
debate at the committee stage?” he
asked.
Anwar told a news conference
outside the House later that
Najib had violated parliamentary
procedure by not giving a two-day
notice on the amendment to the
budget, and asked which “budget”
had been approved for second
reading.
“The Speaker said the budget
tabled by Najib was approved
but this contravenes procedure
because the budget tabled by Najib
had not been distributed and, as
such, there are differences in the
allocations for agriculture and
education,” he said.
Earlier, in the House, Deputy
Speaker Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi
Tuanku Jaafar explained that he
could not instruct the withdrawal
of what had been announced.
“The finance minister (Najib)
addressed the House yesterday
(Tuesday) and, unfortunately, the
Opposition MPs had walked out
then,” he said.
Opposition MPs walked out en
bloc after Tian Chua (PKR-Batu)
was barred from the House when
Najib was giving his winding-up
MP utters unparliamentary word twice
A NEW low in unparliamentary lan-
guage usage was set yesterday when
backbencher Datuk Tajuddin Abdul
Rahman (BN-Pasir Salak) uttered an
offensive word against M. Kulasegaran
(DAP-Ipoh Barat).
This was after the opposition mem-
ber claimed he knew it for a fact the
Indian community in Pasir Salak hated
Tajuddin and did not vote for him during
the elections.
Tajuddin – who was actually inter-
jecting Dr D. Jeyakumar’s (PSM-Sungai
Siput) debate on the 2009 Budget – dis-
approved and immediately uttered the
offensive word. And for good measure,
he used the word a second time. “How
do you know this? You bloody b*****d!
Show me the proof!”
At this point, most opposition MPs
shouted their objection to Deputy
speech. Anwar had said then that
it was meaningless for them to
remain in the House when Najib
presented a new budget but denied
the fact.
Wan Junaidi’s explanation was
not accepted by the Opposition MPs
who asked for an adjournment of
proceedings to seek clarification
from the government on the
injection of the RM7 billion into the
budget.
“If Budget 2009 has been
approved for second reading, then
we can debate the figure in this
(Budget 2009) document. If the
stimulus package was approved,
then we have to postpone and
get the new figure,” said Khalid
Abdul Samad (PAS-Shah Alam).
Wan Junaidi then decided
to postpone the proceedings at
12.15pm. The house usually breaks
for lunch from 1pm to 2.30pm.
Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin
Mulia presided proceedings at
2.30pm and announced that the
RM7 billion stimulus package
presented by Najib is not part of
Budget 2009 which the MPs should
be debating at committee stage.
“Those were measures to be
taken by the government, if there is
a necessity, to prepare the country
Domestic Trade and Consumer
Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir
Samad (right) chats with Transport
Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat
(second from left) and Health
Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai
(third from left) during the Dewan
Rakyat break yesterday.
Speaker Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar
who told Tajuddin the word was unparlia-
mentary and he should retract it.
Tajuddin said he would do so if
Kulasegaran did the same but the latter
said there was nothing wrong with his
statement as it was only a fair comment.
“I have got friends and relatives there
(Pasir Salak) who do not like him. What’s
wrong with that? Is it wrong for me to
speak the truth?” he asked.
Wan Junaidi then told Kulasegaran he
had provoked Tajuddin when he used the
word “benci.” “That is strong. You should
not have used it. I think you should
withdraw the word and I will instruct him
(Tajuddin) to withdraw the unparliamen-
tary word he has used,” he said.
Kulasegaran said: “I will withdraw it
and replace it with “tak suka” (don’t like)
then,” he later said.
At the Dewan Rakyat
by Husna Yusop and Giam Say Khoon
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
in facing the economic situation
which is expected to be affected by
the world economic crisis.
“The money would come
from government savings in fuel
subsidy. Therefore, I have decided
there was no violation of Standing
Orders by any MPs and everything
had taken place accordingly,” he
said.
Pandikar Amin added that he
has been informed there were no
changes made at all to the budget
documents distributed to the MPs
earlier in August.
Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak)
then stood up to ask whether he
could conclude that the budget
they were going to debate is the
one tabled by Abdullah and there
was no need to debate the figures
presented by Najib.
Pandikar Amin agreed and said
since Deputy Finance Minister
Datuk Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah
was present at that time, he could
confirm the matter.
Husni confirmed that the
MPs were supposed to debate on
Abdullah’s version of the budget
speech, adding Najib’s version was
on measures to be taken should
the government be able to save
RM7 billion from fuel subsidy, as
Wan Junaidi then instructed Tajuddin
to do the same.
“I withdraw the word but I plead for
your (Speaker) understanding, he (Ku-
lasegaran) humiliated me. He started it
first. This is all nonsense,” he said.
Wan Junaidi then ordered Jeyakumar
to continue with his debate, however,
before long Lim Lip Eng (DAP-Segam-
but) stood up to get a clarification from
Wan Junaidi as to why Karpal Singh
(DAP-Bukit Gelugor) was suspended
for two days when he told the Speaker
to be serious and not fool around but no
action was taken against Tajuddin who
used an unparliamentary word twice.
Wan Junaidi said the decision on
that case was made by Speaker Tan Sri
Pandikar Amin Mulia and “if you want to
understand the issue better, come to my
room,” he said.
theSun
estimated.
“We are facing an extraordinary
situation. In extraordinary
situations, we must take
extraordinary measures. Najib was
just being more transparent by
announcing what the government
is going to do with the RM7
billion,” he said.
Lim, who earlier suggested that
MPs just ignore Najib’s version as
a waste of time, said all that have
been tabled by Najib on Tuesday,
including the promises of more
low-cost houses for the people,
were now gone.
Anwar then suggested that
MPs stick to Pandikar Amin’s
explanation as Husni’s statement
has only confused the house.
“So, today, we are going to
debate the budget presented by the
prime minister and that presented
by the deputy prime minister
should not be accepted or used.
This means Najib’s speech was not
binding upon the budget. We can
reject it,” he added.
Pandikar Amin then said
sometimes he himself was amazed
with his own ability to be patient
with the MPs, adding the house
should proceed with the debates on
the budget at committee stage.
PM raps Opposition for walkout
PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi yesterday slammed
the Opposition for walking out during
the finance minister’s winding-up on
Tuesday. He said if the Opposition did
not walk out of the House, they would
have had the opportunity to discuss
the additional measures for 2009
Budget.
“They (the Opposition) were
walking away from their responsibil-
ity and we would be wasting a lot
of time this morning (until Deputy
Speaker Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku
Jaafar had to suspend the sitting as
he was unable to satisfy the Opposi-
tion MPs on the matter).
“What we proposed (in the ad-
ditional measures) are the requests
| THURSDAY NOVEMBER 6 2008
Database on bumi
corporate equity
A COMPREHENSIVE database is
to be developed by the end of the
Ninth Malaysia Plan to monitor
the progress of bumiputras in
the corporate sector, said Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi.
He said the database, aimed
at updating government data,
was expected to provide more
detailed information on the struc-
ture of corporate ownership.
Information garnered on eq-
uity ownership along ethnic lines
was restricted to several general
categories, such as bumiputras,
Indians, Chinese and others, he
said in a written reply to Charles
Anthony Santiago (DAP-Klang).
‘Disclose full report
on Refugee probe’
CHARLES SANTIAGO (DAP-
Klang) wants the Immigration
Department to disclose the full
report on its probe into the refu-
gee trafficking case aired by ntv7
on May 3.
In a press conference in Par-
liament lobby, he said the Home
Ministry had said the department’s
investigation found the contents
of the documentary titled Refugee
for Sale to be baseless. “The docu-
mentary showed refugees were
being sold at the borders and
they had to pay about RM2,500
to return to Kuala Lumpur or
they would be sold as slaves and
prostitutes in Thailand.
“In the first reply by the min-
istry on July 9, the department
promised to set up a committee
to probe into the allegations and
the second reply on Oct 22, the
department’s intelligence unit
found that the allegations were
baseless and that it was difficult
to link its officers to the illegal
activities,” he said.
137 juveniles
in jail
A TOTAL of 137 inmates in prisons
in the country are aged below 18
or juveniles, as of Sept 2, said
Deputy Home Minister Datuk
Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh.
He said based on Prisons
Department statistics, 108 of
them were in remand and the
remaining 29 convicts.
The juveniles include 15
females who are detained or
imprisoned for various offences
under the Immigration Act, Dan-
gerous Drugs Act, the National
Registration Regulations, the
Penal Code and others.
Wan Ahmad was replying to a
question by N. Gobalakrishnan
(PKR-Padang Serai).
He said the juveniles were
separated from the adult inmates
and required to undergo a special
rehabilitation programme.
of the people, which their MPs
had raised during the debate (on
the budget) and this is very good
response (from the government)
to help the people,” he told a press
conference in his parliament office.
Abdullah said he was glad Depuy
Prime Minister and Finance Minister
Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak had pre-
sented measures aimed to strengthen
the economy and to ensure the
country will continue to develop and
not face any adverse effect due to the
global economic crisis.
“Most of the proposals benefit
the people directly and immediately
and this is the purpose of making a
few changes by reprioritising some
government projects.”