GEORGE TOWN: Jelutong MP RSN Rayer has questioned the point of Barisan Nasional’s (BN) reaction to the speaker’s order earlier this month for MIC vice-president C Sivarraajh to leave the Dewan Rakyat following a court decision nullifying his election win in the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat.
Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof had asked Sivarraajh to leave after Rayer questioned if the latter had a stay order on the court decision.
This sparked a walkout by BN MPs the next day, who said Ariff’s decision was wrong and that Sivarraajh should be allowed to enter the hall.
Accusing the MPs of making “a big hue and cry” over the issue, Rayer said he was baffled by the move.
He noted that Sivarraajh, after being reinstated to the house on Dec 10, had said he would not appeal the case as he would rather BN fight for the people in a by-election.
“If Sivarraajh had no intention of filing an appeal from the outset, then why did he tell the Dewan Rakyat speaker that he intended to appeal against the decision of the Election Court?
“If there were no plans to appeal, why stage a walkout and demand that I apologise, and later accuse the speaker of denying Sivarraajh the right to attend Parliament for two days?
“Why all the sandiwara?” he said in a statement to FMT.
MIC president SA Vigneswaran had said the party will not appeal against the Election Court decision, paving the way for a by-election in Cameron Highlands.
Sivarraajh meanwhile said he would respect the decision by his party elders although he added that he did not agree with the court decision which he called unfair.
The Election Court, hearing a petition by the losing DAP candidate, held on Nov 30 that corrupt practices had been proven to have been committed with the knowledge and consent of Sivarraajh in the campaign for the Cameron Highlands seat.
Sivarraajh won with a 597-vote majority in a five-cornered fight with candidates from DAP, PSM, PAS and Berjasa.
During the petition hearing, Orang Asli leaders testified that BN candidates for the Cameron Highlands parliamentary and Jelai state seats had given a total of RM2,100 to six Tok Batins, in seeking their support a few days before polling day.
The Tok Batins also said they were given RM200 as “duit rokok” (pocket money) during the 12-day campaign period.
Sivarraajh however denied paying money to buy votes. - FMT
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.