Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun has given Najib Razak until Tuesday to explain the allegation that he had misled the Dewan Rakyat on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.
Azhar said that yesterday, he received a letter from Najib asking for an extension till next Wednesday to give his reply.
“So, I gave him until next Tuesday. So, there is no issue that he has dismissed my orders.”
“It involves facts on whether the government has used funds to pay the principal of 1MDB debts,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
Azhar was responding to a motion by Damansara MP (Tony Pua) to refer Najib to the Rights and Privileges Committee.
Last week, Pua submitted a motion to refer Najib to the Parliamentary Privileges Committee as provided in Article 36 (12) of the standing orders.
Pua was responding to Najib’s speech where he claimed not a single sen of public funds had been used by the government to repay the 1MDB principal debt.
Today Pua said that based on media reports, Pekan who is in Johor said that he will reply to the Speaker after the Johor state elections.
“Pekan has refused the order from the Speaker. This move clearly has insulted the Speaker and the Dewan. Action must be taken on Pekan.
“He is not a candidate that is contesting in Johor, he is only a campaign supporter.”
“His (Najib) excuse is that he is campaigning in Johor. If he is a candidate then that’s a different matter.”
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim reminded Azhar his decision set a dangerous precedent as it gave the impression that politics seemed to take precedence over parliamentary matters.
“If I have a PKR Port Dickson meeting, can the speaker consider that as an excuse?” asked the Port Dickson MP.
To this Azhar said he took note of the opposition leader’s reminder.
“With the benefit of hindsight, I did not take that into consideration before I made the decision. Moving forward, I will surely take this into consideration. I apologise, YB,” he told Anwar. – TMI
Related report:
Mar 8, Guan Eng: Najib stonewalling Speaker’s orders puts him in contempt of Parliament