Thesun 2008-11-26 Page01 Nazri Off The Hook

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No. 4647 PP 2644/12/2008 (020369)

Wednesday November 26, 2008

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Good news/bad news ... Nazri gestures as he answers questions at the Parliament lobby and Puchong MP Gobind exits the House after he was suspended for challenging Wan Junaidi.

Nazri off the hook GOBIND SUSPENDED TWO DAYS FOR ACCUSING DEPUTY SPEAKER OF BIAS

by Husna Yusop and Giam Say Khoon [email protected]

UALA LUMPUR: De facto law minister Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz yesterday escaped being referred to the privileges committee after the Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker ruled that he did not intend to mislead the House that six former judges were not sacked in 1998. However, opposition MP Gobind Singh Deo (DAP-Puchong) wasn’t so lucky. He was suspended for two days for accusing deputy speaker Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar of favouring Nazri. Wan Junaidi said he was satisfied Nazri did not intend to mislead the House when he said on Nov 6 that the judges were not sacked since they had received pensions. This triggered a protest from Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) and his son Gobind accused Wan Junaidi of defending Nazri. Both wanted the minister to apologise. Earlier, Wan Junaidi said he had studied the circumstances, not only by looking at Nazri’s statement but also by referring to other related documents, including the tribunal report and the decision of the Conference of Rulers. “There was a letter to former Lord President Tun Salleh Abas and another from the chief secretary to the government. I have also read letters from the Pensions Department and journals on the practice, precedent and materials from other countries,” he said. Datuk Bung Moktar Radin (BNKinabatangan) interrupted to say that Wan Junaidi should just announce his decision than try to be like a judge and making Nazri look

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like an accused. Wan Junaidi said he must explain the basis of his decision. He said in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and India, for an MP to be referred to the committee there must be an intention on the part of the MP to mislead the House. “To refer an MP, first, the MP’s statement must have misled the House. Second, the MP must realise the statement he made was incorrect. And third, when making the statement, the MP must have intended to mislead the House. But, since Nazri had corrected himself in an open confession to the press on Nov 13, the second and third conditions have not been met,” he said. Karpal argued that it was unacceptable for Nazri to make his defence outside the House. Datuk Anifah Aman (BN-Kimanis) stopped him, saying the Speaker’s decision was final. Salahuddin Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian) said Nazri must apologise in the name of integrity. Wan Junaidi: “He does not have to apologise. I don’t need him to. I made the decision based on cases in other Commonwealth countries. I don’t want this Parliament to be a mockery if we make decisions different from other countries.” Karpal: “The Speaker has made a mockery of this House.” Wan Junaidi asked him to retract his statement but Karpal continued: “You made a mockery of this House. Don’t play around, Mr Speaker. The decision does not stand. The minister must apologise.” Gobind accused Wan Junaidi of defending Nazri and was immediately ordered to leave the Dewan. When Gobind refused to budge, Wan

Junaidi said he decided to suspend him because he had objected to the chair’s decision. Gobind: “He made the mistake and I have to leave? Mr Speaker, you are biased. This is coward. And coward number one is there (pointing to Nazri). Stand up! Stand up and apologise like a man!” He then left the House accompanied by the sergeant-at-arms. In the lobby, Gobind said he only wanted to know from Wan Junaidi if enough information had been acquired before he made the ruling. “If the minister did not apologise or explain inside the House, how can the (Deputy) Speaker know what his defence is? I also wanted to know if he is prepared to apologise outside, why can’t he apologise inside the House?” In the lobby, Nazri said he did not have to apologise because Wan Junaidi had ruled that there was no prima facie case that he purposely misled the House. He reiterated that he regretted that his statement had caused “difficulties” to some quarters. “I had no intention to make a mistake and because the letter (from the King to the chief secretary to the government to give pension to the sacked judges) was not privy to the public. It is clear that even I, as a minister, had no knowledge about the letter. “For 20 years, no one knew that pension had been paid, so how could I know about the incident?” Asked if he would explain to the MPs in the House, Nazri said: “I do not do things to pacify the MPs, I do things that should be correct. Whatever is said in the House will be reported, so the most important thing is to clarify to the public.”

Thai flights cancelled as protesters storm airport BANGKOK: Flights were cancelled at Thailand’s main airport last night after anti-government protesters stormed the building, leaving thousands of travellers stranded and threatening the country’s tourism industry. “The departure hall has been closed,” Sereerat Prasutanont, director of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, the main gateway for 14.5 million visitors to Thailand each year, told TPBS TV. “Flights that are ready to depart can leave, but those that are not ready must cancel their flights,” he said. The move came after members of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) broke through police lines and roamed through the sprawling US$4 billion (RM14.4 billion) terminal, southeast of Bangkok, as startled tourists looked on. The airport invasion capped a dramatic day that also saw PAD protesters firing on pro-government supporters on a major road leading to the old airport to the north of the city. Footage aired by public broadcaster TPBS showed at least two PAD security guards firing half a dozen rounds from handguns. The PAD said they were attacked first with planks and stones. At least 11 people were hurt, a city emergency services official said. There were chaotic scenes at Suvarnabhumi, a major regional air hub that handles 76 flights an hour and 125,000 passengers a day, after protesters broke through lines of riot police.

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