Chaos in Dewan Rakyat, MP ejected after row with Speaker

Chaos in Dewan Rakyat, MP ejected after row with Speaker

Warisan’s Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis had demanded Azhar Harun to explain why her motion to debate the Sulu arbitration issue was rejected three times.

Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis had refused to sit down when asked to do so by deputy speaker Rashid Hasnon, prompting him to suspend the MP.
KUALA LUMPUR:
Isnaraissah Munirah (Warisan-Kota Belud) has been ejected from the Dewan Rakyat and suspended for two days after getting into an argument with Speaker Azhar Harun.

Earlier, Isnaraissah had questioned why her motion to debate the Sulu arbitration issue was rejected three times, asking if the Dewan Rakyat did not care about the matter since it only concerned Sabah.

She was interjected by Ramkarpal Singh (PH-Bukit Gelugor), who said his emergency motion to discuss a similar matter had also been rejected.

He asked Azhar whether the rejection of the motions was done because Attorney-General Idrus Harun is his brother.

“The critique is towards the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), which is led by your brother,” he said.

PH MPs forming a ‘ring’ around Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis to prevent her from being evicted from the Dewan Rakyat. (Fahmi Fadzil Twitter pic)

“If you are afraid that your brother will be criticised, you are in a conflict of interest. There is a clear conflict of interest in your actions.”

Azhar explained that he had to reject the motions as they would be sub judice since there were ongoing proceedings involving the matter abroad.

He explained that the Sulu arbitration issue had been discussed in the previous Dewan Rakyat meeting that took place in March.

He said he had to reject the motions since he had received legal opinions that they were sub judice as there were ongoing proceedings overseas, and stressed that there was no conflict of interest in his actions.

“I have never spoken about work matters with him (Idrus). If there are any matters related to him, I will exempt myself,” he said.

R Sivarasa (PH-Sungai Buloh) said sub judice could not be used as an excuse by Azhar to reject these motions as the court proceedings were going on overseas, not in Malaysia.

“Your brother (Idrus) should explain (himself),” he said.

Isnaraissah had refused to sit down when asked by deputy speaker Rashid Hasnon, prompting him to suspend the Warisan MP.

She had wanted Putrajaya to explain why it only got the stay of execution on the final award totalling US$14.92 billion granted to the so-called heirs of the Sulu sultanate on July 12 when the award was granted on March 3.

Several opposition MPs formed a ring around Isnaraissah to prevent her from being escorted out of the Dewan Rakyat. They included Salahuddin Ayub (PH-Pulai), Dzulkefly Ahmad (PH-Kuala Selangor) and Hannah Yeoh (PH-Segambut).

The chaos in the Dewan intensified when Azhar left and was replaced by Rashid, who told Isnaraissah that the Speaker had rejected the motion. He then told her to file an appeal.

Rashid then proceeded to ask energy and natural resources minister Takiyuddin Hassan to present his motion to amend the Forestry Act 1984, which led to Isnaraissah and other PH MPs urging him to stop presenting his motion, as they wanted Rashid to allow them to debate the arbitration issue.

Takiyuddin refused to back down and said he had the floor.

Isnaraissah then pushed Rashid to come up with a new date to table the motion on the Sulu arbitration issue and refused to back down as Takiyuddin continued to present his motion.

Her actions prompted Rashid to issue her a two-day suspension order.

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