by SHAUQI WAHAB / pic courtesy of Parliament  

MEMBERS of the Opposition in the Dewan Rakyat staged a walkout in response to Prime Minister (PM) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s congratulatory remarks towards Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, who was appointed as the country’s 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong today.

Before the walkout, Opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin stood up from his seat to express dissatisfaction with the timing of Anwar’s speech, arguing that it should have been delivered earlier at the beginning of the Dewan Rakyat session this morning.

Hamzah, representing PN-Larut, pointed out that it was unprecedented for a PM to give such a speech while the debate on His Majesty’s appointment was already underway in the assembly.

Anwar explained to the MPs that he was unable to deliver the speech in the morning due to a prior commitment — a meeting with Cambodian PM Hun Manet — who was on an official visit to Malaysia.

According to Takiyuddin Hassan (PN-Kota Baru), he said that there are procedures that all MPs needed to include in the meeting rules (AUM), but the PM’s statement to congratulate the previous Agong was not included in the list.

He also noted that the statement could be done on the third week instead of today where the MPs can discuss more pressing matters.

“In law, discretion should be done according to the law and wisdom — judicially, judiciously and reasonably because every action needs to have a justification,” said Takiyuddin.

Earlier, Datuk Awang Hashim (PN-Pendang) was ruled out from the Dewan Rakyat for four days during the afternoon session.

He clarified that he was not aware that he was banned by the Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul.

Awang later went inside the Dewan Rakyat to ask for clarification from the Speaker on the reason behind his ban, refusing to leave the room until he was given a justifiable explanation.

“He (Awang) was my friend, but when I said to Pendang (him) to take back his statement, you (he) refused to do it.

“So, are you my friend or not? You did not care about what you said, so that’s why there’s an old Malay saying ‘Kerana pulut santan binasa, kerana mulut badan binasa’ (body suffers because of what the mouth said),” Johari chided Awang in the Dewan Rakyat.

The ban only lasted an hour as Hamzah begged the Speaker to rescind the ruling on Awang, which was then approved by Johari.