DPM summons dissenting deputy ministers on 114A

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday summoned deputy ministers Saifuddin Abdullah and Gan Ping Sieu over their dissenting stance on the controversial Section 114A of the Evidence Act.

When contacted, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz, who was present at the meeting, confirmed this.

"Yes, it's true... But I did not summon them. I was invited by the deputy prime minister to explain to them," he toldMalaysiakini today.

This comes despite a Aug 29 cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak which reversed an initial decision to reprimand them.

The cabinet meeting on Aug 15, which was chaired by Muhyiddin while the premier was overseas, had initially decided to reprimandthe two deputy ministers as well as Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin for their stance that was inconsistent with that of the government.

However, Nazri, who is de facto law minister, said no reprimand was issued in yesterday's meeting as it was only intended to seek their views.

“We wanted to address their concern... We are not like the opposition. The moment some of their members disagree with them, they throw them out,” he said.

Nonetheless, Nazri noted that the meeting was intended to explaining to the duo the recent amendment to the Evidence Act and that it would have no bearing on the government’s decision to retain Section 114A.

“The cabinet has already decided on (Section) 114A so this is to explain to them” he said.

Khairy was not summoned as he was not part of the government, Nazri added.

[More to follow]