PARLIAMENT | The government this morning cancelled its motion to suspend opposition MP Wan Saiful Wan Jan (PN-Tasek Gelugor) from the Dewan Rakyat for alleging Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is a leader who abuses his power.
This comes after the Bersatu lawmaker used an opportunity to speak given by speaker Johari Abdul to openly apologise to the prime minister and Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, whose name Wan Saiful had allegedly misused to influence the Dewan Rakyat.
“I admit that the sentence I said in my speech was aimed at Tambun (Anwar). I retract the statement made on Feb 28 and 29 and I also apologise for making the remarks.
“I also apologise for my mistake of touching on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in my speech, and retract my statement on that,” Wan Saiful (above, right) said.
Johari welcomed the opposition MP’s apologies and suggested that it could solve the issue.
Following this, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (BN-Bagan Datuk), who filed for the motion to be heard by the Dewan Rakyat, retracted the proposal.
“I hereby withdraw my motion, which is the first on today’s list,” Zahid said.
Wan Saiful then expressed his appreciation to the speaker and Zahid.
While the light-hearted moment was well received by MPs from both sides of the political divide, government Backbenchers Club chairperson Mohd Shahar Abdullah (BN-Paya Besar) reminded the Dewan Rakyat that it must be a lesson learned and such an incident should not happen again.
‘Corrupt’ PM
Yesterday, it was reported that the government wanted Wan Saiful to be suspended for six months over his allegation against Anwar.
According to the Dewan Rakyat’s order paper for today, Zahid was scheduled to move a motion to suspend Wan Saiful.
Wan Saiful made the offending remarks last Wednesday while debating the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s royal address to Parliament.
According to the Hansard - Parliament’s official transcript - Wan Saiful was commenting on Sultan Ibrahim’s remarks before becoming king that he wanted to hunt down the corrupt.
“Corrupt means abusing power. Ampun Tuanku, the person who abuses their power will have an audience with Your Majesty each week before the cabinet meeting,” the lawmaker had said.
This was a clear reference to Anwar, who as prime minister, has a pre-cabinet meeting with the Agong each week.
The allegation triggered an uproar, following which Wan Saiful retracted his remarks upon the speaker’s instruction.
In his speech, Wan Saiful also claimed that he was offered bribes including an RM1.7 million allocation to swing his support to Anwar and that his corruption charges would also be dropped. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.