Veteran opposition member of parliament Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) is to face possible disciplinary action over the oath-taking controversy when his case is referred to the Parliament's Privileges Committee.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is expected to table a motion in Parliament next Monday to send the case involving Karpal, who is also the DAP deputy chief, to the committee for further action.

The six-paragraph motion called for the committee to consider and ascertain whether Karpal had made a "false statement and misdirected the House" after the politician cited the wrong Act to protest against parliamentarians for not raising their right hand during the oath-taking ceremony on May 17.

He cited the Statutory Declarations Act instead of the Oath and Affirmations Act, which does not contain any provision requiring parliamentarians to raise their hand when taking their oath last month when Parliament reconvened after the March general elections.

Wrong act

Following that, House speaker Dr Mohamed Zahir Ismail wrote a letter to Karpal last Tuesday to seek his explanation for citing the wrong Act - the Statutory Declarations Act, which requires all persons to raise their hand when taking their oaths.

Mohamed Zahir said the DAP MP has "misdirected" the House and told him to reply to his letter or action would be taken against Karpal.

The Bukit Gelugor MP, who had conceded that he made a mistake at a press conference and later in Parliament, argued that the speaker had subsequently overruled his protest when the matter was raised in the House.

He also argued that the speaker in a letter dated April 8 which informed parliamentarians in relation to the oath-taking ceremony, had reminded that they were required to raise their right hand.

"The speaker should show maturity by accepting he was in the wrong, and not me. Needless to say, if he sticks by his ruling he would be going against the grain of his own direction," Karpal added.

He said the speaker should not now take action against him. However, Abdullah disagreed.

"The MP has made a media statement on June 3, 2004 saying he would not respond to the speaker. Instead, he blamed and personally attacked the speaker," said Abdullah in his motion which was presented to the House today. The motion will be officially tabled by the Prime Minister's Department next week.

"If the committee finds the Bukit Gelugor MP has made a false statement and misdirected the House, then it should recommend the kind of punishment to be taken against the MP," the motion added.

The privileges committee has to move a motion to be debated in the House after it has decided on the matter. However, there was no time frame stipulated in the parliamentary standing order when the committee should complete its inquiry.

The privileges committee is headed by the speaker and comprises both ruling and opposition parliamentarians.

'Simple reason'

In a statement issued yesterday, Karpal reiterated that he would not respond to the speaker's letter for a "simple reason".

"I do not want to lend my assistance to the creation of a precedent where the speaker can haul up MPs for disciplinary action for what they say in the House subsequent to their utterances in the House," he said.

The politician-cum-lawyer made a comeback to Parliament recently after a five-year hiatus following his stunning loss in his Jelutong parliamentary fortress in the 1999 general election.

In an immediate response, parliamentary Opposition Leader and DAP chief Lim Kit Siang told malaysiakini that he was shocked by the motion and the drastic action taken against his deputy.

A press conference is expected to be held by the party later today.

DAP Batu Gajah MP Fong Po Kuan was suspended for six months without allowance in 2001 after she openly criticised the speaker for rejecting her motion to debate the scandal involving the Certificate of Legal Practice.

However, Fong was not referred to the privileges committee.

Instead, a motion calling for her suspension was tabled to the House directly, and this was subsequently passed by the Barisan Nasional-dominated House..