Seputeh MP: PM Najib should sack Tajuddin if no apology over 'Kok' remark

Umno deputy minister Tajuddin Abdul Rahman should be sacked if he does not apologise for his sexist remark, said Seputeh MP Teresa Kok.

She said the deputy agriculture and agro-based industries minister's remark in the House that she was a woman with a 'Kok' was uncalled for.

"If he doesn't retract his remark and apologise, the prime minister should sack him.

"I did not disturb him, but he brought up all the sexist remarks," Kok said at a press conference in the Parliament lobby today.

Kok's surname is phonetically similar to a slang word for the male genitalia.

Tajuddin had made the offending comments out of the blue today, while arguing with the opposition about last Saturday's Bersih rally.

Deputy speaker Ronald Kiandee however did not ask Tajuddin to retract the remarks, saying the latter had only referred to Kok's name.

Later when met in the Parliament lobby, Tajuddin also gave a similar excuse.

"Her name is Teresa Kok. Is it wrong for me to say you are the only one with the name Teresa Kok?" he told reporters.

However, Tajuddin's actual quote in the House was: "The only woman with a 'Kok' is in Seputeh."

Meanwhile the Umno deputy minister dared Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad to call him 'sial' outside the House.

'If he dares, I will sue him'

"If he dares to do that, I will sue him. Let the courts decide whether he is right or wrong," the Pasir Salak MP said.

Khalid had called Tajuddin 'sial' after Tajuddin refused to apologise to Kok.

At a press conference later, the Amanah communications director was not apologetic for what he said.

"I had to reprimand Pasir Salak (Tajuddin), for it was clear what he said.

"I called him a minister who used 'sial' language, and was a 'sial' minister for not retracting his remarks," Khalid said.

He added that he was not afraid of being sued by Tajuddin.

Lawmakers enjoy some degree of parliamentary immunity for their remarks in Parliament.

However this immunity ends the moment they step out of the House. -Mkini