2 DAP MPs ordered out of Parliament

Two DAP MPs, who were ordered out of Parliament by Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia during question time at 10.45am Thursday, were only allowed back in the house at 2.30pm.

Pandikar had ordered Jeff Ooi (DAP-Jelutong) and Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah) out for disobeying his order.

Ooi was asking a supplementary question on bumiputra contractors involved in upgrading the Penang International Airport when Pandikar told him to stop.

When Ooi refused to sit down and argued with Pandikar, he was ordered out by the latter.

"What was my mistake?" Ooi repeatedly asked Pandikar, who had told him to sit down before sending him out.

Fong, who stood up to plead with Pandikar on behalf of Ooi, was also ordered out when she told Pandikar: "Tan Sri, maybe you are the one who needs rest as you seem to be emotional."

Fong was also booted out.

Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri had earlier replied to Ooi on the progresss of the upgrading of the airport.

When Ooi asked a supplementary question on the airport where he touched on bumiputra contractors, Pandikar told him to stop as he was going on with his lengthy question.

Earlier, Pandikar had told the house that he would allow an additional supplementary question, raising the number of supplementary questions to three.

However, he also reminded the MPs to be short and precise in their supplementary question or he would stop them if the supplemetary question deviated from the original question.

True to his word, he told Datuk S. K. Devamany not to answer Datuk Bung Moktar Radin's supplemetary question before Ooi's question came up.

At Parliament lobby later, Ooi told a press conference that Pandikar should have let him ask the question.

He also wanted Pandikar to apologise to the house for misjudgement. - Star