It began when M Kula Segaran (PH-Ipoh Barat) said he was unhappy that a bipartisan meeting on the Indian community was not held in November as planned.
He said despite being told that the meeting would be held after the Melaka polls that month, it did not materialise.
In response, national unity minister Halimah Sadique said the meeting would now be held on March 22.
Kula then asked for an update on the probe into the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit’s (Mitra) abuse of funds.
Halimah said she could not reveal much as it was being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
At this point, Kula interrupted Halimah as she sought to explain that the prime minister would form a Cabinet committee on Indian issues and draw up an action plan for the community.
This led to raised voices, with Halimah telling Kula to sit and hear her out.
“Have you had breakfast?” she asked Kula, alluding that his outburst could be related to hunger.
Halimah then moved on to answer V Sivakumar (PH-Batu Gajah) on how much Mitra spent in 2020 and last year, saying the matter was under the purview of the de facto law minister and MACC.
Sivakumar said it was important that Parliament be told about the expenses, including claims that Mitra funds were allegedly used to settle a personal loan.
Halimah refused to answer him and moved on to answer other questions, which led to Sivakumar and Kula standing up and demanding answers.
“I cannot give you details on how much money was spent as it is part of a graft probe. If you want details, please ask the law minister,” Halimah said as the two MPs simultaneously spoke up to interrupt her.
Speaker Azhar Harun then ordered Sivakumar and Kula to sit down and reminded them that Halimah had the floor. He told them they needed to seek permission to interject her speech.
However, Sivakumar remained standing and continued talking. This led to Azhar asking the sergeant-at-arms to escort Sivakumar out of the hall for a 10-minute “makan angin”.
“You opposition members say I don’t follow the rules. But you yourselves don’t follow the rules.
“During ‘Question Time’, you can only ask for clarification — you cannot debate. If you want to ask questions, you must ask permission to interject,” Azhar reminded them.
Kula then told Halimah that she could not hide behind MACC in refusing to answer questions related to Mitra, especially when it was alleged that a MIC leader had siphoned RM3 million from the funds.
He went on to say Azhar was also covering up for the minister, which led to the Speaker saying he had been “more than flexible” in allowing members to debate during “Question Time” and that he had no personal interest in MIC.
Kula said his Ipoh Barat constituency had the largest percentage of Indian voters in the country and accused Halimah of being overly sensitive to his questions.
Halimah then told Kula: “Why don’t you go back and have thosai? Looks like you don’t understand my answers.”
The Speaker, in frustration that his advice had not been heeded then adjourned the session for lunch.
Last October, it was reported that MACC had arrested 18 people from 10 companies and NGOs suspected of being involved in the misappropriation of Mitra funds. Last month, the agency arrested another 22 in seven states.
Mitra had approved RM203 million in grants from 2019 to 2021 to 337 companies, associations and NGOs.