Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) vowed to continue to "create trouble" for Barisan Nasional (BN) following a sanction motion against him in the Dewan Rakyat this afternoon, which could see him being suspended for six months.

Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Lim Si Cheng announced at 4pm that the motion was passed after members of the House had debated for three and a half hours and voted to accept the report submitted by the Parliamentary Privileges Committee.

Immediately after the decision was announced, all 12 DAP MPs staged a walkout, shouting that the decision was "shameful".

Karpal has been given three days to tender an apology and then serve out a 10-day suspension from Parliament for misleading the House.

If he fails to do so, he is liable to a six-month suspension and will not be allowed to receive his MP's monthly allowances and enjoy other perks.

Speaking to reporters in the Parliament lobby, Karpal maintained his refusal to apologise.

"I will become a MP in exile for the next six months. I will give BN more trouble outside than inside (the House)," said the newly-elected DAP chief.

'Black day'

Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor) described today as a "black day for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's new era".

He added that the DAP would launch a nationwide campaign of "support, sympathy and solidarity for Karpal" to support the party chairperson.

DAP MP for Batu Gajah Fong Po Kuan, who had been suspended for six months in December 2001 for pursuing debate of a scandal involving the Certificate of Legal Examinations, was outraged that her colleague would be punished the same way.

"History has repeated itself in Parliament today. An opposition MP was picked out and punished by the BN majority in the House," she said.

"I feel this has been a face-saving motion for the Speaker (Dr Mohamed Zahir Ismail), the prime minister and the BN over a trivial issue. It is the committee's report that is misleading."

The motion to refer Karpal to the Privileges Committee was tabled on behalf of Abdullah after Karpal had refused to respond to the Speaker's claim that he had misdirected the House.

Karpal had cited the wrong legislation to protest that parliamentarians had not raised their right hand when being sworn in on May 17. He conceded his mistake at a press conference later but also argued that the Speaker had overruled his protest when the matter was raised in the House.

Earlier today, Karpal in his 90-minute-long debate had questioned the findings because five of the six committee members had apparently disagreed that he had misled the House.

No procedural flaws

The debate saw shouting matches between Kit Siang, Karpal and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz, all of whom have legal training.

Nazri, who tabled the motion to debate the report this morning, took an hour for his ministerial winding-up on the debate.

The minister denied there were procedural flaws in the report - such as the absence of a minority report and committee members' signatures - and further cited precedent laid down in a similar motion in1984 against DAP Sandakan MP Fung Ket Wing.

He said that, although Karpal had not been called to enter a defence during the inquiry, the MP had been given sufficient time to present his arguments in the House today.

"Why would he need to defend himself in front of only six people (in the committee) when he is allowed to speak in front of so many of us sitting here today? The committee was merely making a recommendation but we are the decision-makers," Nazri said.

He also questioned Karpal's assertion that he had not intended to mislead the House.

"You (Karpal) have been the MP for many terms, so why did you raise the objection only this time? This shows there is sufficient reason to say you had intention to mislead the House," Nazri said.

He added that a letter dated April 10 issued by the Parliament secretariat to remind all MPs to raised their right hand during the oath-taking ceremony was merely a "checklist" and was not issued on the Speaker's instruction.

Karpal - a fiery orator and renowned criminal lawyer - remained calm throughout the debate, but repeatedly told the BN backbenchers who interrupted him to "shut up and sit down".

He also asked the deputy speaker several times to control the few ekor (animals) who lost control of their emotions in the "zoo" and at one juncture, he labelled Nazri the "Parliament's toilet minister".

Nazri later responded by calling Karpal the "honourable jamban (toilet) MP".