“This is the power of APCO, their letter is top secret,”
PETALING JAYA, Dec 17 — DAP chairman Karpal Singh said today the suspension of four Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers yesterday was unlawful as it was not limited to barring them from attending Parliament.
The Bukit Gelugor MP said the motion, which was passed by Parliament yesterday, effectively banned him and three other lawmakers from performing their duties outside the House.
The veteran lawyer pointed out that the Parliament was only empowered to suspend MPs from attending parliamentary proceedings.
“We are suspended from performing our duties as Members of Parliament. Our duties go beyond attending Parliament,” Karpal (picture) said at a press conference.
“We can only be suspended from the service of the House. It is going to be a major point. This is an infringement of our rights as MPs which were provided for under the constitution,” he added.
Apart from attending Parliament, MPs also maintain service centres in their constituencies and often act as mediators between government agencies.
Some local governments also invite their respective MPs to attend council meetings.
Parliament yesterday suspended Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Karpal, Subang MP R. Sivarasa and Gombak MP Azmin Ali.
“In our country Parliament is not supreme, the constitution is supreme. The decision of Parliament must be based on the constitution,” said Karpal.
“When I was suspended in 1994 for insulting the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the wording was very clear, suspended from the service of the House,” he added.
Anwar’s suspension was recommended by Parliament’s Rights and Privileges Committee for claiming earlier this year that Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s public relations consultants APCO Worldwide had been behind both the 1 Malaysia and One Israel concepts.
Karpal, Sivarasa and Azmin were cited for contempt for revealing and discussing the proceedings of the Rights and Privileges Committee on Anwar’s APCO claims.
The three MPs were accused of publishing a letter from APCO addressed to the powerful committee.
Karpal also reiterated PR’s decision to sue Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia over the suspension and expressed surprised over Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz’s remarks that the parliamentary proceedings could not be challenged in court.
He cited the suspension of Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Zambry Kadir from the state assembly, which was overturned by the Federal Court and Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo’s suit against Pandikar for his suspension.
In Gobind’s case, the court decided not to interfere in the Dewan Rakyat’s decision to suspend the lawmaker for one year.
“As a result of Zambry’s case the Dewan Rakyat’s decision can be challenged. As far as we are concern, this case will go to court and we are serious about this,” said Karpal.
“The Speaker was named as a respondent in Gobind’s case. I am surprised that Nazri said the decision of the Dewan cannot be challenged,” he added.
Anwar also accused APCO of lying to Parliament’s Rights and Privileges Committee in its letter to the panel.
“Who is this APCO? Are they that powerful that we cannot question them on anything?” the PKR de facto leader told a press conference here today.
Anwar was suspended yesterday from Parliament amid loud protests and a walkout by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) MPs who called the Dewan Rakyat a kangaroo court.
He received the boot for claiming earlier this year that APCO Worldwide had been behind both the 1 Malaysia and One Israel concepts.
A separate suspension motion also cited three other PR lawmakers for contempt for revealing and discussing the proceedings of the Rights and Privileges Committee on Anwar’s APCO claims.
“They claim to be an independent public relations consulting firm, but why are they involved in a Malaysian political campaign?” said Anwar today.
“I want them to stop the political campaign. How can they continue to defend a corrupt regime? They have to be responsible for their actions,” he added.
Parliament yesterday suspended Anwar, Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh, Subang MP R. Sivarasa and Gombak MP Azmin Ali for six months.
Anwar’s suspension was recommended by the Rights and Privileges Committee.
Karpal, Sivarasa and Azmin were cited for contempt for revealing and discussing the proceedings of the Rights and Privileges Committee on Anwar’s APCO claims. The three MPs were accused of publishing a letter from APCO addressed to the powerful committee.
The letter, denying the company’s involvement in drafting the 1 Malaysia concept and One Israel, was the only evidence accepted by the committee, which caused two of its members, Karpal and Sivarasa, to boycott the proceedings.
“They have lied before when they said they have nothing to do with the Israeli government. And in the letter they complained that they were not permitted to testify, which is not true,” said Anwar.
“What is the issue here? There is no issue, but I have been accused of being a Jewish agent so I have to show that the government has an agreement with an Israeli-based company and it is not just any regular business, but with ties to Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet,” said the Permatang Pauh MP.
Sivarasa, who was also at the press conference, said that the letter from APCO had caused the parliamentary panel to reverse its earlier decision to allow Anwar and other witnesses to testify.
“That is the power of APCO, that it can make the committee turn 180 degrees,” said Sivarasa.
“Why should we believe in the letter? We wanted to cross-examine but it was rejected by the majority,” he added.
He also questioned the suspension order against him, Karpal and Azmin, saying that they did not publish the APCO letter as alleged, but merely stated the facts.
“We did not distribute the letter. We did not read out the letter. We only stated the facts in the letter,” said Sivarasa.
“This is the power of APCO, their letter is top secret,” he added.
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