Crikey! Debate kicks off with an hour ruckus after 'samseng' jibes

PARLIAMENT | The maiden debate session for the 14th Parliament got off to a farcical start with MPs shouting at each other for about an hour.

Often times, the shouts from the MPs drowned out the deputy speaker Mohd Rashid Hasnon, who failed to maintain control of the sitting.

The din only subsided when Rashid at 1pm ordered an adjournment for lunch.

The brouhaha began shortly after Johari Abdul (Harapan-Sungai Petani) tabled a motion of thanks for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's speech yesterday.

When tabling the motion, Johari urged MPs to take heed of the Agong's decree that MPs should be on their best behaviour while citing some examples from the past sessions.

Ramkarpal Singh (Harapan-Bukit Gelugor) chimed in by citing an incident in 2009 which saw then Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh mobbed by a group of Umno Youth members.

At one point, Ramkarpal described the Umno Youth members as "samseng" (thugs), prompting howls of protest from the opposition bench and similar accusations from BN MPs.

After a protracted slanging match, Rashid laid a ruling - that both Ramkarpal and Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) retract the word "samseng".

Both refused, and yet, Rashid did not take action against them. This prompted another shouting match.

On numerous occasions, the BN MPs tried to "teach" Rashid how to conduct himself while mostly ignoring orders from the deputy speaker.

Eventually, Rashid was saved by the bell when the clock struck one and called for a recess.

-Mkini