SHAH ALAM, 19 June: The move to again suspend the Member of Parliament of Padang Serai, N.Surendran, for six months from Parliament, starting from today, is extreme and personal.
The Member of Parliament for Pandan, Rafizi Ramli, said that the action taken by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Datuk Ronald Kiandee, and the House is too harsh and gives a negative perception of the democratic system in the country.
He said that the House of Representatives should be aware that reality shows that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is becoming stronger, so the Speaker and the House should hold talks with the opposition.
“The opposition from PR, by right, should be given equal opportunity to discuss many issues. However, when we try to ensure that the voice is respected, suspension is carried out.
“What was mentioned by Surendran is felt by most people. What he said was not wrong and this second suspension is seen as personal and proves that the Speaker and the House cannot be touched,” he said when contacted by Selangor Kini.
Rafizi said this when asked to comment on Surendran’s second suspension from Parliament because the Vice President from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) was suspended last November and just came out of suspension a few days ago.
Citing Harakah Daily, the suspension motion was read by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, this afternoon in front of Ronald Kiandee.
The motion was regarding Surendran’s press conference accusing the Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, of suppressing the opposition’s voice in Parliament when they rejected the motion put forward by him on June 16.
Surendran was also alleged to claim that the House of Representatives is ‘authoritarian’ in nature and does not give PR the right to speak.
Shahidan’s motion was the passed by Ronald Kiandee after seeing that Members of Parliament were not keen on discussing it. However, the decision was opposed by PR Members of Parliament who were unhappy with the move.
NS