No more ‘robber’, ‘communist’ allowed in Dewan, says speaker

No more ‘robber’, ‘communist’ allowed in Dewan, says speaker

Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof bans the words following the protest by opposition MPs against Lim Guan Eng's remark last year on GST refunds.

MPs attend the Dewan Rakyat assembly today.
KUALA LUMPUR:
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof today banned the use of the words “robber”, “communist” and “podah” (get lost) in the assembly after opposition MPs asked if Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng should have used the word “robbed” when speaking about the goods and services tax (GST) refunds.

“There are many words uttered in the Dewan that should not be used,” he said.

“These include ‘p****k’, ‘podah’, ‘communist’ and inviting people to step out of the Dewan for a fistfight. These go against the Dewan’s rules.”

The ban follows the war of words between MPs after Ariff ruled earlier today that Lim would not be referred to Parliament’s Rights and Privilege’s Committee despite the opposition’s push for this.

The opposition had insisted that Lim’s claim in 2018 that Barisan Nasional “robbed” RM19.4 billion worth of funds was a lie, especially after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) confirmed yesterday that no money had gone missing.

However, Ariff said there was no prima facie case that Lim had misled the house following a review of the Bagan MP’s speech as well as the PAC report.

Shahidan Kassim (BN-Arau) then said if Lim refused to retract his words, he would not retract the “communist” label he had directed at DAP.

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