Ramkarpal Singh has chided Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil for saying the cabinet would “contact” the Dewan Rakyat speaker’s office over purported false statements made in Parliament.
“This is ill-advised. It implies the government has a hand in running the Parliament.
“It is elementary that Parliament is independent and has the power to regulate its own procedures, subject to certain provisions of the Federal Constitution and federal laws,” the Bukit Gelugor MP said in a statement yesterday.
Yesterday, Fahmi said the cabinet will contact the office of the speaker of the Dewan Rakyat over false statements issued by MPs during the debate on the motion of thanks for the royal address in the Dewan Rakyat for the past two weeks.
He also said the cabinet had voiced a firm reprimand against such behaviour at yesterday’s meeting.
“Insya-Allah, the cabinet will contact the Dewan Rakyat speaker’s office to make sure (it does not recur) because there seems to be an attitude of issuing a statement first, then apologising,” Bernama reported Fahmi as saying yesterday.
The minister attributed this to a series of false statements issued by MPs, which allegedly had confused the Dewan Rakyat before being followed up with apologies.
Parliament empowered to discipline MPs
Taking Fahmi to task, Ramkarpal said that Parliament has ample powers to deal with MPs issuing false statements - via its standing orders.
He added that it was only appropriate for the speaker to act on a motion submitted to him in order to reprimand an errant member, not upon being “contacted” by the cabinet.
“This is not about fake news. It is about the independence of Parliament as an institution which has been a topic of much debate.
“The government itself had committed to improve the running of its affairs by, among others, tabling the Parliamentary Services Bill.
“Therefore, Fahmi’s statement is much regretted and ought to be clarified to avoid a perception of government interference in the affairs of Parliament,” he stressed. - Mkini
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