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Lightning pg26
Bolt
Nazri off the hook
GOBIND SUSPENDED TWO DAYS FOR ACCUSING DEPUTY SPEAKER OF BIAS
by Husna Yusop and Giam Say Khoon
newdesk@thesundaily.com
UALA LUMPUR: De facto law minister
K
Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz yesterday
escaped being referred to the privileges
committee after the Dewan Rakyat deputy
speaker ruled that he did not intend to mislead
the House that six former judges were not
sacked in 1998.
However, opposition MP Gobind Singh
Deo (DAP-Puchong) wasn’t so lucky. He was
suspended for two days for accusing deputy
speaker Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar of
favouring Nazri.
Wan Junaidi said he was satisfied Nazri did
not intend to mislead the House when he said on
Nov 6 that the judges were not sacked since they
had received pensions. This triggered a protest
from Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) and his
son Gobind accused Wan Junaidi of defending
Nazri. Both wanted the minister to apologise.
Earlier, Wan Junaidi said he had studied the
circumstances, not only by looking at Nazri’s
statement but also by referring to other related
documents, including the tribunal report and the
decision of the Conference of Rulers.
“There was a letter to former Lord President
Tun Salleh Abas and another from the chief
secretary to the government. I have also read
letters from the Pensions Department and
journals on the practice, precedent and materials
from other countries,” he said.
Datuk Bung Moktar Radin (BN-
Kinabatangan) interrupted to say that Wan
Junaidi should just announce his decision than
try to be like a judge and making Nazri look
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like an accused. Wan Junaidi said he must
explain the basis of his decision. He said in New
Zealand, Australia, Canada and India, for an MP
to be referred to the committee there must be
an intention on the part of the MP to mislead the
House.
“To refer an MP, first, the MP’s statement
must have misled the House. Second, the
MP must realise the statement he made
was incorrect. And third, when making
the statement, the MP must have intended
to mislead the House. But, since Nazri had
corrected himself in an open confession to the
press on Nov 13, the second and third conditions
have not been met,” he said.
Karpal argued that it was unacceptable for
Nazri to make his defence outside the House.
Datuk Anifah Aman (BN-Kimanis) stopped
him, saying the Speaker’s decision was final.
Salahuddin Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian) said
Nazri must apologise in the name of integrity.
Wan Junaidi: “He does not have to
apologise. I don’t need him to. I made the
decision based on cases in other Commonwealth
countries. I don’t want this Parliament to be a
mockery if we make decisions different from
other countries.”
Karpal: “The Speaker has made a mockery
of this House.”
Wan Junaidi asked him to retract his
statement but Karpal continued: “You made
a mockery of this House. Don’t play around,
Mr Speaker. The decision does not stand. The
minister must apologise.”
Gobind accused Wan Junaidi of defending
Nazri and was immediately ordered to leave the
Dewan. When Gobind refused to budge, Wan
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No. 4647 PP 2644/12/2008 (020369)
Wednesday
November 26, 2008
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» Parents must bite bullet pg12
Good news/bad news
... Nazri gestures as he
answers questions at
the Parliament lobby and
Puchong MP Gobind exits
the House after he was
suspended for challenging
Wan Junaidi.
Junaidi said he decided to suspend him because
he had objected to the chair’s decision.
Gobind: “He made the mistake and I have
to leave? Mr Speaker, you are biased. This
is coward. And coward number one is there
(pointing to Nazri). Stand up! Stand up and
apologise like a man!”
He then left the House accompanied by the
sergeant-at-arms. In the lobby, Gobind said
he only wanted to know from Wan Junaidi if
enough information had been acquired before
he made the ruling.
“If the minister did not apologise or explain
inside the House, how can the (Deputy) Speaker
know what his defence is? I also wanted to know
if he is prepared to apologise outside, why can’t
he apologise inside the House?”
In the lobby, Nazri said he did not have to
apologise because Wan Junaidi had ruled that
there was no prima facie case that he purposely
misled the House. He reiterated that he regretted
that his statement had caused “difficulties” to
some quarters. “I had no intention to make a
mistake and because the letter (from the King
to the chief secretary to the government to give
pension to the sacked judges) was not privy to
the public. It is clear that even I, as a minister,
had no knowledge about the letter.
“For 20 years, no one knew that pension
had been paid, so how could I know about the
incident?”
Asked if he would explain to the MPs in the
House, Nazri said: “I do not do things to pacify
the MPs, I do things that should be correct.
Whatever is said in the House will be reported,
so the most important thing is to clarify to the
public.”
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Thai flights
cancelled as
protesters
storm airport
BANGKOK: Flights were cancelled
at Thailand’s main airport last night
after anti-government protesters
stormed the building, leaving thou-
sands of travellers stranded and
threatening the country’s tourism
industry.
“The departure hall has been
closed,” Sereerat Prasutanont, di-
rector of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi
airport, the main gateway for 14.5
million visitors to Thailand each
year, told TPBS TV.
“Flights that are ready to depart
can leave, but those that are not
ready must cancel their flights,”
he said.
The move came after mem-
bers of the People’s Alliance for
Democracy (PAD) broke through
police lines and roamed through
the sprawling US$4 billion (RM14.4
billion) terminal, southeast of
Bangkok, as startled tourists
looked on.
The airport invasion capped a
dramatic day that also saw PAD
protesters firing on pro-govern-
ment supporters on a major road
leading to the old airport to the
north of the city.
Footage aired by public broad-
caster TPBS showed at least two
PAD security guards firing half a
dozen rounds from handguns. The
PAD said they were attacked first
with planks and stones.
At least 11 people were hurt,
a city emergency services official
said.
There were chaotic scenes at
Suvarnabhumi, a major regional
air hub that handles 76 flights an
hour and 125,000 passengers a
day, after protesters broke through
lines of riot police.
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