Motions to refer Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan to the parliamentary Rights and Privileges Committee have been submitted by two opposition members of parliament yesterday.
Gobind Singh Deo (PH-Puchong) and Hanipa Maidin (PH-Sepang) said they had submitted their respective motions to the Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun, while urging the House to let MPs debate the motion.
This is in relation to Takiyuddin’s revelation on Monday where he told the Lower House that the emergency ordinances have been revoked by the cabinet on July 21.
However, opposition MPs have pointed out that only the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has the power to revoke either the ordinances or the proclamation of emergency since it was the king who had given his consent to the proclamation in the first place.
Following that, Takiyuddin has been accused of misleading the House.
“The Speaker has acknowledged that he has received the motion I sent to him and now we want to know if we can debate this motion right now,” Gobind said in the House today.
Hanipa then urged the Dewan Rakyat to expedite the process of hearing his motion, adding that Takiyuddin’s claim that the emergency ordinances have been revoked is a serious matter and it must be debated in the House without delay.
“The Speaker was actually involved in (Monday’s) debate, so I ask the Speaker to make a ruling on this.
“Considering the seriousness of this matter, is it reasonable for only the Speaker to get to hear this motion? I urge this House to make the decision.
“Conduct a debate and voting session and let this House decide if our (Hanipa and Gobind) motions are accepted instead of the Speaker alone because there could be some bias.”
Deputy Speaker Datuk Rashid Hasnon who was presiding over the session this morning (Wednesday) said the Speaker’s office has received the motions and would respond to the MPs soon.
After being pressed to make his own ruling today, Rashid insisted the MPs wait for Azhar, adding that he would have to refer to the Speaker before making any decisions.
M Kulasegaran (PH-Ipoh Barat) then grilled Rashid, asking the Parliament to show some urgency on serious matters.
“Why is this being delayed? Don’t you have any sense of urgency? You are sitting in the Speaker’s seat right now so make your own decision. Why do you have to wait for (Azhar)?
“Besides, the minister (Takiyuddin) is right over there. Ask him to answer our questions now. He has his prime minister next to him so what is he afraid of?
“The Parliament must be relevant or else the public will be worried that we are not performing our duties,” Kulasegaran said. – NST