No motion from Pua means he lied regarding LRT3 cost, not Najib

TTF: Tony Pua alleged at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday that the RM9bil cost cited by Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak for the LRT3 project was only for construction and did not include costs and fees associated with land acquisition.

His statement was met with reaction from UMNO’s Dato’ Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, who persistently challenged the Damansara Member of Parliament (MP) to file a motion against Najib over the actual cost.

This is what Tajuddin told Pua in the Dewan Rakyat:

“If he (Najib) had confused the Dewan, file a motion against him. Raise a motion that Pekan (MP) confused the Dewan.”

According to reports (see news item and link provided below), Pua responded by saying that he couldn’t do so as the statement was made by Najib outside the Dewan.

But here’s the thing – there is no provision within the Standing Orders of the Dewan Rakyat or Article 162 of the Federal Constitution that disallows one MP from moving a motion against another MP over a statement even if that statement was made outside Parliament.

It follows, that should a motion by Pua be in the best interest of the rakyat, there is absolutely no reason for him not to move one if it serves to prove that Najib misrepresented Parliament as an elected MP by lying to the rakyat.

In that sense and that sense alone, Pua may actually be able to ‘prove’ that Najib is in contempt of Parliament and request that the lower house exacts some form of disciplinary action against the former premier.

Should Pua succeed, he would be able to prove to the Dewan once and for all that Najib is a liar who misled the people.

So you see, there is nothing stopping Pua from moving a motion against Najib unless he himself lied regarding the actual cost of the LRT3 project.

KUALA LUMPUR: Senior Umno lawmaker Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman says he will support a motion to cite the former Prime Minister for misleading Parliament.

Tajuddin (BN-Pasir Salak) said this when he challenged Tony Pua (PH-Damansara) to move a motion to cite Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for allegedly lying and misleading the Dewan Rakyat over the cost of the Light Rail Transit 3 (LRT3) project.

“I request the Speaker to ask Yang Berhormat (Pua) to move a motion that Pekan (Najib) had lied and misled Parliament.

“If he (Najib) lied, I will support it (the motion),” he said when interjecting Pua, who was debating the motion of thanks on the Royal Address in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (July 19).

However, he added that Najib had made the statement outside Parliament and not in the August Hall.

“If he (Najib) comes to Dewan and says that the cost is RM9bil, I will immediately move a motion to cite him,” Pua said.

Tajuddin then stood up and kept on challenging Pua, but was ordered by Speaker Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof to sit down.

Earlier, Pua said that the RM9bil cost for the LRT3 was only the construction cost which did not include additional land acquisition cost and fees.

He added that Prasarana Malaysia had admitted that the cost of the proposed LRT3 was RM31.6bil.

Following a review of the project, he said the Pakatan Harapan Government managed to reduce the proposed LRT3 project by RM16.6bil.

He said this helped save RM15bil for the Government, which would translate in lower fares for commuters in the future.

Earlier, Pua called on political parties to return the RM470mil which they had received from money misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

He said that political parties should return the money to the Government, as they now cannot claim ignorance as to where the money came from.

Source: The Star Online