Ku Li's switch to opposition bench in Parliament 'strange' - Annuar

 

It’s strange for Umno’s Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to break from the party’s rank by moving his seating position in the Dewan Rakyat to the opposition bloc, according to Ketereh MP Annuar Musa.

This is particularly so when other BN parliamentarians have no problem with the existing seating arrangement, said Annuar (above), who is also the federal territories minister.

There was no request from party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and deputy president Mohamad Hasan for BN MPs to do so, he said.

Even so, Annuar said he respects Razaleigh's position because it was the right of the veteran to do so.

“The president did not ask to move, neither did the deputy president… (but) he (Razaleigh) asked to move. But that’s his right, we have to respect,” he told a press conference at an event at Kota Bharu today.

“Everyone is entitled to his own rights, but as the parliamentarian of a party, we usually act en bloc. Frankly, I think this is quite strange,” he said.

He opined that Umno lawmakers should follow the collective decision of the party before taking any action.

“That’s why the MPs held discussion that day and made a collective decision to support the PN government,” he said.

Razaleigh, who is popularly known as Ku Li, moved his seat to the independent bloc, citing the party’s decision to sever ties with Bersatu.

He made the request during the four-day special Parliament sitting, which commenced on June 26.

However, 40 of his colleagues in BN decided to unanimously support the government under Muhyiddin Yassin’s leadership despite an earlier decision made by the Umno supreme council to withdraw its support for the prime minister.

When asked about the Dewan Rakyat’s decision to cut short its sitting by one day, Annuar said the entire country is also subjected to laws that deal with Covid-19.

He said the special Parliament sitting was held last week after Dewan Rakyat speaker Azhar Azizan Harun asked for special approval to be exempted from the laws.

“That was something extraordinary… the health director-general gave us the flexibility but yet we violated it. For example, the first option was no sitting at all and another option was for us to shorten the sitting, but at the end we demanded for the sitting to be continued,” he said.

“We are the lawmakers but we breached the laws, sometimes unintentionally. So, we sat until 5.30pm. But the Covid-19 cases continued to climb,” said Annuar.

He wasn’t sure if it was safe for the House to sit when the MPs came from all over the country and they were exposed to various risks.

“Some reside in red zones and there’s a chance for them to be infected and bring it back to their own constituencies. When we go back to our constituencies, the Parliament cluster may cause a surge of Covid-19,” he said.

“It is the responsibility of the health ministry to conduct an assessment. The ministry must ensure no sitting is being held until Parliament becomes a green zone,” added Annuar. - Mkini