Three MPs thrown out

Er Teck Hwa, Lim Lip Eng and N Gobalakrishnan defied the Speaker’s order to sit down.

KUALA LUMPUR: Three MPs were kicked out of parliament house for disobeying the Speaker’s order to sit down.

Bakri MP Er Teck Hwa was told to get out when he remained standing and continued to demand an answer to a question he posed to the Minister of International Trade and Industry, Mustapa Mohamed, who finished his winding up speech without responding to the former.

Er wanted clarification on a piece of information alleging that Malaysia was interested in trading with Israel. Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia repeatedly asked him to sit down, but he was defiant.

“Why didn’t the minister answer?” he said. “It’s just a yes or no. I just want to know if Malaysia has economic ties with Israel”

Pandikar Amin eventually ordered Er out after several failed attempts to get him to sit down.

Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng told Er not to leave. A clearly livid Pandikar then showed the door to him as well.

The Speaker said there was no room for questions after a minister had finished his speech. However, he allowed both the DAP reps back into the house 25 minutes later.

Er told reporters that he was not satisfied with the Speaker’s decision as he was merely trying to seek clarification.

“I have got documents, including a customs document from an NGO, which shows that Malaysia wants to have economic relationship with Israel,” he said. “I just wanted to clarify if the information was accurate.”

Earlier, Padang Serai MP N Gobalakrishnan (Independent) was shown the exit when he continued to shout at his DAP counterparts, alleging that they had not kept their promises on the Kampung Buah Pala issue.

He was sent out a few minutes before lunch break and was allowed back into the hall after the break.