DAP chairperson and Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh’s loyalty to the Malay rulers came under scrutiny in Parliament today after he was accused of committing treason.

Barisan Nasional backbenchers are now pressuring the government to take action against the seasoned politician to determine whether he had committed treason, which is punishable by death.

abdul razak baginda mongolian model murder 141206 karpal singh Karpal came under heavy fire from the backbenchers over his two highly critical remarks lately over the transfer of a state top religious official in Perak, which he has described the palace’s involvement in the matter as “unconstitutional”.

The DAP leader has also questioned in the House earlier this week whether the King’s royal address in opening the 12th Parliament was indeed the King’s speech. It is widely known that the royal address is prepared by the government.

The matter was hotly debated in the House this morning between Karpal and the backbenchers to the extent of prompting two ministers to join in the fray against Karpal, which was rarely seen i n the House.

At the outset of the debate on the royal address this morning, Karpal questioned why Razali Ibrahim (BN-Muar) has questioned his loyalty to the rulers during the debate earlier.

Razali retorted: “I didn’t say who. I merely said in court, whoever criticise the judge can be deemed to have committed contempt of court. Similarly, in Parliament, those who criticise the Malay rulers can be considered as committing treason (derhaka).”

Karpal however insisted that the Muar MP has uttered treasonable words, which are not allowed under the standing orders, and demanded the latter to withdraw the remarks.

fong po kuan 290805 Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah) interjected at this juncture, saying that none of the MPs’ loyalty should be questioned since they also took the oath and vowed to be loyal to the rulers.

'We are Malaysians, not Malays'

The House descended into a heated exchange at this time with Karpal, Fong, Razali and other backbenchers shouting at each other across the floor.

Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Minister Noh Omar also stood up and wanted to make a point but deputy speaker Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar told all the MPs to sit down.

The deputy speaker then appeared to come to the rescue of the Muar MP as he explained to the House over the “Malay’s sentiment” towards the issue of loyalty to rulers.

wan junaidi tuanku jaafar Wan Junaidi: It’s very important to the Malays on the loyalty to the sultans and they treat those who question it as being disloyal to the sultans...

Karpal: Point of order...

Wan Junaidi: This is the sentiment and feeling of the Malays when anybody touch on the issue of the Malay sultans...

Karpal: We are Malaysians here, not Malays.

Ministers join in the fray

The deputy speaker’s explanation made the situation worse and riled up more opposition MPs.

Fong: I hope the deputy speaker can withdraw the remark on the Malay sentiments. All of us here are loyal to the sultans as well.

Lim Lip Eng

(DAP-Segambut): What about the Chinese and Indians’ (sentiments)?

Fong: We sing the Negaraku and memorise the Rukunegara too. The remark is not right, I hope the deputy speaker could at least correct the statement.

Wan Junaidi: I have made my decision under the standing orders and it is final. Don’t challenge my decision and if there is anyone not satisfied, table a motion (to challenge the decision). I have asked the Muar MP not to repeat the accusation.

maximus ongkili Minister Noh was given the chance to speak at this time, where he also lashed out at Karpal while Science, Technology and Innovation Dr Maximus Ongkili joined in the fray too later.

“Who prepared the royal address should not be questioned, it is just a trivial matter,” Maximus told the House.

As the shouting match went on for about 15 minutes, Razali then proposed to the government to table a motion in the House to let the MPs decide whether Karpal has committed treason.

“We hope the government can do this since the government’s motion can be given priority (to be debated),” said the Muar MP, which was echoed by Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) who also urged the government to table the motion.