Motion on Rosmah rejected

An emergency motion in Parliament to debate allegations that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's wife Rosmah Mansor had, through a businessman, financed private investigator P Balasubramaniam's stay and expenses in London has been rejected.

Bakri DAP parliamentarian Er Teck Hwa's motion was denied underStanding Order 18(5) that states"not more than one motion can be brought at the adjournment of the meeting in a day".

The MP wanted the issue discussed, saying it had received extensive coverage from the international media and he believed the matter has affected the country's good standing and image.

Er's motion was on Balasubramaniam's lawyer Americk Sidhu's statement, through the blog Malaysia Today on June 30, stating that all expenses to support the private investigator while in London were paid by carpet trader Deepak Jaikishan on Rosmah's (above)directive.

Balasubramaniam, who went undercover, was one of the witnesses in the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

He is currently wanted by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to assist in its investigations into allegations that he was paid to retract his first statutory declaration.

The motion also wants allegations by fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin in his article entitled 'Let's send the Altantuya murderers to hell' to be debated.

The article alleges that Prime Minister Najib had a relationship with Altantuya and that the Mongolian had knowledge of dubious deals that led to her murder. Najib has denied any involvement.

Er had asked for the issues to be debated and to verify the claims in order to maintain the nation's integrity.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia rejected the motion, saying Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and Permatang Pauh parliamentarian Anwar Ibrahim would be giving the adjournment speech.

However, Er is not giving up on his effort to push the issue to be debated, and resubmitted his motion this morning.

"I resubmitted it early this morning and the officers told me that my motion is the first one for today," he said.

He hoped the issue would be debated next week because as it concerned the premier's wife.

"The rumour has been spreading around on the Internet, so we need to protect our country and Rosmah's reputation," Er added.

courtesy of Malaysiakini