PARLIAMENT | A DAP lawmaker’s jest for Khlir Mohd Nor (PN – Ketereh) to declare support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in a bid to resolve armed forces veterans’ woes made several PN MPs livid.
Speaking in the Dewan Rakyat today, Khlir lambasted the Defence Ministry for not prioritising pension adjustments for military veterans who retired before Jan 1, 2013 – who are now old and ill - when providing financial assistance and other basic needs.
In response, RSN Rayer (Harapan–Jelutong) cheekily suggested Khlir back Anwar so that issues plaguing veterans can be resolved easily.
“Seeing this issue about veterans, I am also fighting alongside Ketereh (Khlir) on this. We should remain steadfast and be determined to resolve this.
“However, making it convenient is easy. Let’s just ask Ketereh (Khlir) to openly declare support for the prime minister,” Rayer (above) said during the Supplementary Supply Bill 2024 debate at the committee stage in the august house.
Responding to Rayer, Khlir called for Anwar to help ease the veterans’ woes first before talking about switching support.
“I’ll see. It’s been one year and four months (since the Madani government took office) and I have been talking about the same issue since.
“Tell the prime minister to do it (resolve issues pertaining to veterans) first,” he said.
However, Rayer’s jest did not sit well with Shahidan Kassim (PN - Arau) and Awang Hashim (PN - Pendang), leading the duo to raise Section 36(12) of the Standing Order.
Section 36(12) stipulates that any member who imputes statements that mislead the august house is deemed to be in contempt of the house.
Shahidan slammed Rayer, saying he was wrong to mislead the house when the topic being discussed was about armed forces veterans.
Meanwhile, Awang accused Rayer of asking all opposition MPs to be involved in bribery.
“We do not want to be involved in that, where we have to declare support before getting aid. That’s bribery!
“(Rayer) as a legal practitioner, you can’t do such things,” Awang said.
Last Friday, Khlir claimed that the government offered a Confidence and Supply Agreement (CSA) to Opposition Leader Hamzah Zainudin in exchange for allocation for PN-held constituencies.
“An offer has been made to support (Anwar). It would be fine if it just concerns the giving of allocations, but there are conditions (attached).
“The problem is the conditions. What if the conditions are too rigid?” Khlir was quoted as saying by Utusan Malaysia.
He said opposition MPs do not plan to meet with Deputy Prime Minister Fadilah Yusof over the allocations as long as the government imposed conditions.
Khlir said the government should not include specific conditions for MPs to receive the allocations.
“Although we want the allocations, we will not go as individuals, we will only go on a consensus basis,” he added.
To date, six Bersatu MPs have announced their support for Anwar and the government.
The six are Zulkafperi Hanapi (Tanjong Karang), Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (Bukit Gantang), Zahari Kechik (Jeli), Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang), Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar) and Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan). - Mkini
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