PN MPs leave Dewan after Radzi booted out

 

Putrajaya MP Radzi Jidin had repeatedly demanded that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim retract remarks made against him and his party.

KUALA LUMPUR: Perikatan Nasional MPs staged a walkout from the Dewan Rakyat in protest of Radzi Jidin’s (PN-Putrajaya) ejection from the House.

Radzi had been booted out of the Dewan Rakyat after lashing out at Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and getting into a shouting match with government backbenchers.

He had repeatedly demanded that Anwar retract remarks he made against him and his party, interrupting the prime minister’s winding-up speech on the 12th Malaysia Plan mid-term review.

Anwar had denied that the government intervened in the attorney-general’s (AG) decision to request a conditional discharge for deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in his Yayasan Akalbudi graft case.

“When the AG made the decision, I asked him (about it). I didn’t discuss the matter with him. I asked him to explain what were the reasons for (the decision).

“You can laugh (Radzi), but you (PN) did the same thing when it was your (PN’s) administration,” he said.

This prompted Radzi to repeatedly urge Anwar to retract his statement, before government MPs came to the prime minister’s defence.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul eventually ordered Radzi to leave the House.

Opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin (PN-Larut) then defended his colleague, saying Radzi was simply trying to defend PN’s honour.

“If the Speaker has ordered (Radzi) to leave, then to protect the party’s honour, we will leave too.”

However, Khlir Nor (PN-Ketereh) remained in the Dewan Rakyat. The only other opposition MP with him was Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muda-Muar).

Meanwhile, at a PN press conference later, Radzi said his dismissal from the Dewan Rakyat was a “dark day for the Malaysian Parliament” as he had only asked Anwar to retract the accusations directed at him.

“This is a very straightforward matter. Tambun (Anwar) just needs to say: ‘I retract that matter; it has no connection with Putrajaya.’ That’s it. Why defend something that is not right?

“That’s why I appeal to Malaysians today… If we are accused of something in the Dewan Rakyat in front of everyone without any evidence, and we ask that it be withdrawn but it is not, how can we fight for justice for the people?”

Meanwhile, opposition leader Hamzah Zainuddin said the decision made by the Speaker was “unfair”.

He said the opposition bloc decided to stage a walkout to avoid “agreeing with the lies” Anwar had said in the Dewan Rakyat.

“When I asked him (Anwar) to retract what he said, he responded by saying the word ‘Putrajaya’ didn’t refer to the MP, but rather to the (PN) administration in Putrajaya,” said Hamzah.

“This shows that deception is happening in the Dewan Rakyat,” Hamzah said. - FMT