‘Monkey’ business in the august house.
Uproar in Dewan Rakyat after Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Arau lawmaker Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim compared Amanah’s Kuala Langat MP Mohd Sany Hamzan to a kera (monkey) in the jungle for interrupting his speech today.
Shahidan, when concluding his 2023 Budget, said Pas was the only political party that followed the Islamic teachings and did not ignite hate within the people in the country.
“Many have also said that Pas is a Taliban party and many slanderous remarks were made against the party. However, the hate thrown against the party will only strengthen the party’s tolerance.”
Following this, Sany interrupted Shahidan by saying the latter could be the next Pas Mursyidul-Am and replace Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man as the party’s deputy president.
To this, Shahidan said he was disappointed with the Hulu Langat MP whose behaviour was worse than a monkey in a jungle.
“Please join Malaysia’s monkey academy if you want to behave this way and bother others (when they are debating).”
Sany, who was displeased with the remark, urged the Speaker to instruct Shahidan to retract the statement.
He said that Shahidan as a veteran should not set a bad example for new Members of Parliament.
“Speaker…(Shahidan) uses the word monkey, it should be the old people who give an example, for a (good) example, ask to withdraw that word, Arau should give an example to us new ones,” he said.
Dewan Rakyat continued to be in pandemonium when Sany’s call was interrupted by PN’s Parit Buntar MP Mohd Misbahul Munir Masduki who got up and asked Amanah MP to change his behaviour first before the two MPs involved continued their shouting match.
The uproar continued for several minutes forcing PN’s Kuala Terengganu MP Datuk Ahmad Amzah Hashim to appeal to the Speaker to control the situation.
However, Johari responded to Ahmad Amzah’s request cynically by saying that the people were watching their behaviour.
“I want to see how many people want to shout because the people are watching, keep going, keep going, the people are watching,” he said referring to the Parliament being streamed live.
Johari then asked Shahidan if he had used unparliamentary terms when concluding his debate earlier.
Shahidan maintained his stance that he only requested Sany to not behave like a monkey in a jungle.