Segambut MP faces boot from House for 'insulting' Pandikar

Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng is set to be suspended from Parliament for “insulting” Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia.

A motion to suspend Lip Eng for six months appeared as the second item of the Order Paper for today.

The motion is expected to be tabled by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said.

The debate on the Budget 2017 speech will continue today but Azalina is empowered to ask that the motion to suspend Lip Eng be prioritised.

The motion read: “That on Tuesday, Oct 25, during the Special Chambers session, YB Lim Lip Eng, the MP for Segambut, insolently questioned the powers of the Dewan Rakyat speaker that can be imposed on him for disobeying the speaker’s instructions.

“That the YB Segambut had insulted the Dewan Rakyat speaker with the statement ‘You are a disgrace to Parliament... we are elected and you are appointed’.

“YB’s statement had insulted the Dewan Rakyat speaker and the Dewan Rakyat sitting which elected him as the Dewan Rakyat speaker based on Article 57(1) of the Federal Constitution.”

The motion also noted that Lip Eng had on Oct 23 questioned and belittled the Dewan Rakyat speaker’s ‘sub judice’ ruling with regards to the US Department of Justice’s 1MDB investigation.

It further noted that Lip Eng had in a statement on April 7 also declared that the Dewan Rakyat speaker had failed in his parliamentary reform efforts and demanded that he resign.

The motion concluded by stating: “and that YB Segambut’s action and statements are an insult to the Dewan Rakyat speaker who is carrying out his duty of chair of the House and therefore means it is also an insult to the Dewan Rakyat and sullies the good name and prestige of the Dewan Rakyat.

“Therefore it is agreed that YB Lim Lip Eng, MP for Segambut, should be suspended for six months from the date of the approval of this motion.”

On Tuesday, Lip Eng got into a heated argument with Pandikar during the Special Chambers session.

This was after Pandikar lectured him after he became upset at Lip Eng’s press conference questioning his sub judice ruling.

Meanwhile, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang said he was shocked by the move to suspend Lip Eng from Parliament.

Describing it as “double jeopardy”, Kit Siang pointed out that Lip Eng was already suspended from the Special Chambers for two days.

“I was suspended from Parliament for six months last October. Now, there is a proposal to suspend Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng for six months. Who next?” he said.- Mkini