Rafizi cannot pick PM's brain on 1MDB-TRX deal

Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli posed two questions for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak but these were rejected.

The Parliament Secretariat's Office shot down the questions on the basis that the posers are meant to elicit the prime minister's "opinion", in breach of Standing Orders 23(1)(h).

This clause reads: "A question shall not be asked for the purpose of obtaining an expression of  opinion, the solution of an abstract legal case or the answer to a hypothetical proposition."

The word "opinion" was highlighted in bold.

An infuriated Rafizi ( right in photo ), who is also PKR vice- president, said if this is the case, then Parliament might as well be closed down.

"If I can't pick the prime minister's brain, we might as well close Parliament. We might as well not have a prime minister," he told a press conference in the Parliament lobby.

Rafizi had also sought confirmation from Najib on whether the government sold the Tun Razak Exchange land to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) at RM64 per square foot.

He also wanted to know if Najib would resign, as demanded by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

These questions, Rafizi said, were those raised by both Mahathir and Pakatan, that needed to be addressed.

"(But) the prime minister didn't want to answer so he used the secretariat to reject these questions.

"Rejecting questions which have become the people's focus is an insult to the Dewan Rakyat.

"I'm not asking about his wife," a frustrated Rafizi exclaimed.

Bad for PM to dodge questions

The PKR lawmaker said Najib needed to justify why the TRX land was sold for cheap.

Whether he will resign due to pressure from Mahathir is also pertinent to the running of the government, Rafizi said.

"(If he resigns) we may have another period (where the government) is on autopilot where no one knows where the government is headed," he added.

PKR parliamentary whip Johari Abdul said the PM dodging questions were bad for the country.

"This invites speculation by the public that something is wrong somewhere and that what Mahathir said is right.

"This is bad for the country because the prime minister says one thing and the former prime minister is saying something else," he said.

Mahathir is on a warpath to remove Najib from office and has demanded answers to various questions including the 1MDB fiasco. The ex-premier has also challenged Najib to a public debate .

The prime minister, in return, has put up a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list on his website to respond to Mahathir's questions on the Altantuya murder case .

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