DAP chairperson Karpal Singh has been suspended for two days from Parliament for accusing Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia of being "not serious" and "playful".


MCPX
The suspension arose as a result of Karpal (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) chiding Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz for being insensitive towards the disabled people.

Karpal took offence to Nazri referring to Wee Choo Keong (PKR-Wangsa Maju) as 'blind'.

"The minister has insulted the disabled people, and as I represent them, I want him to retract!" said the wheelchair-bound Karpal.

The heated exchange went on until Pandikar had to interject and said the minister had done nothing wrong. Pandikar added that the word 'blind' did not refer to any disabled people.

Unconvinced, Karpal then trained his anger at the speaker, stating: "You are not serious and are being playful (about this)!"

Pandikar then issued a warning to Karpal but the latter refused to back down, repeating the remarks.

"I have given you a warning and I have to take action under the Standing Orders. I am suspending you for two days from Parliament," said Pandikar.

The is not the first time the outspoken veteran leader has faced disciplinary action. He served a six-month suspension from the House in 2004.

His son and MP for Puchong Gobind Singh Deo had also landed in hot soup last June following a run-in with the Speaker and was suspended for two days as well.

Bar Council dinner

Today's heated argument started when Wee posed a supplementary question to Nazri as to why the government had spent so much money to sponsor the Bar Council dinner at the JW Marriot Hotel in April.

"Does this not show that the government was just looking for compliments from ( the Bar Council) just for their political interests?" asked Wee, a lawyer by training.

However, Nazri dismissed the claim, saying the dinner was held to strengthen the relationship between the government and the Bar Council which had soured during his tenure as a law minister.

"Now the government and lawyers have a good relationship to convince not only the public, but the world that we do have a stable judiciary system," he added.

Nazri further cited an event where the Prime Minister’s Department had spent more than RM120,000 to sponsor another Bar Council dinner last year at the Renaissance Hotel, which was also a relationship building exercise.

However, Wee interjected, calling it ‘bribery’ but the minister once again disagreed.

“That is not corruption...it is just an effort to strengthen the relationship between the government and the lawyers. Only blind people would say that (it is corruption),” he said.

At this point, many opposition MPs stood up to voice their protest forcing the speaker to intervene.

Speaker: Padang Serai (N Gobalakrishnan-PKR), Wangsa Maju (Wee), please sit down. The minister is answering the question.

Nazri: He (Wee) just does not see that we have a good relationship with the lawyers. They could not see because over there (pointing at the opposition bench) is too ‘dark’. The prime minister had the rights to do (so), like sponsoring Hari Raya 'open house'...that is it. Nothing involving corruption.

At this juncture, Karpal raised the Standing Orders for it to be used against the minister for uttering the word ‘blind’.

"Mr Speaker, the minister has used a rude word. He was kurang ajar (rude), and has insulted blind people. Can the minister retract his statement?"

Speaker: Thank you for that. I am listening...

Karpal: Don't you want to impose a ruling?

Pandikar however refused to impose a ruling, justifying that the ruling would only be one-sided if imposed.

"Even when Wangsa Maju (Wee) accused the minister of corruption, and that is considered accusing someone with bad faith.

"But from what I have seen it has become a culture in the House to do so. If I impose any ruling raised by all the YB here, then the House would be deserted as I would throw you all out," he said.

'Noble warrior'

Karpal: But if you are a 'noble warrior' (Pandikar Mulia), how could you not know if someone is being kurang ajar?

Speaker: Enough, enough Bukit Gelugor (Karpal). We should not prolong this. As far as I am concerned, you (Karpal) have uttered even worse remarks than this against Kinabatangan (Bung Mokhtar Radin) that I dare not even mention here.

Karpal disagreed, saying that his altercation with Bung had been settled. He then asked permission to interject but the speaker refused and threatened to take action if Karpal pursued the matter.

Karpal: Mr Speaker, stop being playful.

Speaker: I am not, I am being serious!

Karpal: I think you are not being serious and being playful!

This resulted in the decision to suspend Karpal and the speaker stressed: "This shows that I am serious and I will not hesitate to take action. Please, please leave."

However, Karpal refused to leave and his colleague Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor) defended the latter and said the speaker should review his decision.