KUALA LUMPUR, 14 Nov: Pakatan Rakyat (PR) criticised the suspension of the Member of Parliament for Padang Serai, N.Surendran from the Dewan Rakyat because the move was unethical.
Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, said that the Parliament’s move to suspend Surendran proves that Barisan Nasional (BN) insults and makes a mockery out of the democracy system in Malaysia.
He said that the matter should be brought before the Parliamentary committee to investigate the truth of a matter before suspension is imposed.
He said that the matter should be brought before the Parliamentary committee to investigate the truth of a matter before suspension is imposed.
“We can see how Parliament manipulates us. It is quite clear that enough time must be provided before a motion is brought up. In this case, the matter was ignored. Is it so easy for us to punish a representative elected by the people just for expressing his view on a matter of public concern?
“They should conduct an investigation on this matter and bring it before the committee,” he said when met here at the Parliament lobby today.
Anwar said that the Dewan Rakyat should not have asked a Member of Parliament to table the motion for suspension as it is not under the rules of the meeting.
“Why did they ask for a debate? It is not in the rules (especially) since we are willing to take Surendran to the committee for investigation,” he said.
Anwar said that this proves that the Parliament can be exploited for the benefit of an individual in such cases.
“Previously, I too experienced this when discussing the APCO issue, and so did the Member of Parliament for Puchong. Looks like the Parliament is being used, seeing that this is matter of principle and not technical, and we should respect that,” he said.
Meanwhile the MP for Puchong, Gobind Singh Deo, said that DAP strongly condemns the action by BN which is arrogant and despotic in nature.
He said that this case clearly shows that the Parliament waives rights for Members of Parliament to speak freely to discuss the issues of the people.
“In five years, we will see the same action taken against many Members of Parliament,” he said.