PARLIAMENT | The government's motion to suspend former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak for three months has been amended to refer him to the parliament's rights and privileges committee over his alleged violation of an embargo on the Felda White Paper.
The motion was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat today by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Liew Vui Keong.
Najib was accused of breaking an embargo by uploading part of the Felda White Paper contents on his Facebook page.
According to the wording of the motion, Najib published a statement containing excerpts from the embargoed Felda White Paper on April 9, despite the House only lifting the embargo at 11.30am the following day.
"The action of the honourable Pekan has clearly violated Clause 95A of the Standing Order of Dewan Rakyat.
"As such, it is agreed that the honourable Pekan must be referred to the rights and privileges committee," it read.
The motion had initially read that Najib must be suspended for three months from his duty as MP.
However, it was changed to him being referred to the committee this morning.
The White Paper – titled "Towards a Sustainable Felda" – was given to lawmakers a day before the April 10 debate.
An embargo note was labelled on the front cover of the document to remind lawmakers not to make the contents public before the date.
On Tuesday, Najib uploaded a snapshot of the White Paper, and revealed that a 'put option' was included in the Felda's purchase of a 37 percent stake in Indonesia's Eagle High Plantation.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad pledged to take action against his predecessor.
“This is a serious matter because he is not a novice elected representative. He was once a prime minister.
“By not taking rules into account, he has published a paper that was embargoed. We view this seriously and we will take action so he will be reminded that no one is above parliamentary rules,” he told reporters. - Mkini
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