Bakri MP let off with stern warning over boycott mistake

KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — DAP has let off Bakri MP Er Teck Hwa with a stern warning for breaching party discipline when he violated a boycott order by attending yesterday’s parliamentary briefing.

In a statement here, party whip Anthony Loke said Er would not be referred to the DAP’s disciplinary committee as he had admitted his mistake and apologised for it.

“This should be a lesson for Er and all DAP MPs to always act collectively and obey the decisions of the party’s top leadership in carrying out their duties as DAP parliamentarians,” he said.

Loke said the decision was made after he discussed the matter with DAP Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang and a show cause letter was issued on Er.

He added that the party viewed the discipline breach as a serious matter.

Er raised eyebrows in Parliament yesterday when he was the sole MP from the 89-member opposition bloc to attend a scheduled briefing.

When approached by reporters, Er said he felt the briefing was important and that his decision to attend was of his own initiative.

“Briefing day is important, we want to see if there are new rules and so on,” said Er, an MP well known among Parliament circles for his halting Bahasa Malaysia and persistence in the Dewan Rakyat.

In a press statement after causing an uproar for his attendance, Er apologised to his party for the mistake, explaining that he had missed the email instruction sent to all 38 DAP lawmakers last week as he had not gone through all correspondence in his email inbox.

“This is my mistake for not thoroughly going through all the messages and email for this specific order to boycott today’s briefing and stirring up more controversy on [the] current political scenario.

“I would like to express my most sincere apologies for my inappropriate actions and humbly accept any dicispline action that might be taken against me,” he said.

Er, however, admitted that despite not seeing the official email from his party, he had been well informed about the boycott as it was reported in the media.

But he pointed out that it was standard procedure for the party leadership to convey orders via text messages or emails, both of which he believed he had not received.

The PR leadership council had decided to boycott the sitting in its last meeting to signify its protest against the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government for its alleged refusal to adhere to demands for electoral reform.