Investigations into the case of DAP stalwart Karpal Singh being mobbed by Umno Youth members in Parliament on Feb 26 hit a snag today after three opposition members quit the special committee set up to probe the incident.

violent attack towards dap karpal singh and lim lip eng at parliament 260209 sequence The trio resigned in protest of Karpal's son and Puchong MP Gobind Singh's one-year suspension from the House yesterday.

The three are Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Barat), Sivarasa Rasiah (PKR-Subang) and Kamaruddin Jaafar (PAS-Tumpat).

Karpal has also decided not to be a part of the inquiry, which commenced at 1pm.

"The House contradicted itself as a court of law to punish those responsible for the mob attack on me. But in the case of Gobind, the House thought it was proper to punish him," he said at a press conference.

"He was not even referred to the Committee of Privileges, which he ought to have. And in the light of that development I will not be taking part in the inquiry," he added.

MPs not attending as well

Opposition MPs who were involved in the incident such as N Gobalakrishnan (PKR-Padang Serai), Lim Lip Eng (DAP-Segambut) Fong Kui Lun (DAP-Bukit Bintang) and Fong Poh Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah) will also not attend the inquiry.

However, Karpal's aide Michael Cornalius will be present and he will be accompanied by the opposition stalwart’s son, Ram Karpal.

Among others who were scheduled to take part in the inquiry were Parliament officers and security guards.

The special committee was set up under Section 80(A) of the Standing Orders.

Other members of the committee are House speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia, deputy speaker Ronald Kiandeee as well as Tiong King Sing (BN-Bintulu), Fong Chan Onn (BN-Alor Gajah) and Nancy Shukri (BN-Batang Sadong).

parliament 170209 anwar ibrahim Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, who also attended the press conference, said he could forseee a “disturbing trend, pattern, and manner” ahead of the power transition plan between Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy Najib Abdul Razak end of this month.

“We expect to be under a more repressive regime. Dirty hands in every single avenue, in Parliament, in courts and police intimidation against the opposition in this country,” said the Permatang Pauh MP.

Nazri: Withdrawal is ‘self-inflicted’

Later when met by the press, Nazri appeared unperturbed over the opposition MPs withdrawal from the committee, saying that it would just be “self-inflicted” on themselves.

nazri abdul aziz smilling “We have invited them to the committee but they refused. We cannot force them...(the decision will be) self-inflicted,” he said.

He further pointed out that Gobind and Karpal’s situations are two different cases, where Gobind’s case happened inside the House while Karpal’s happened outside the House.

“What Gobind said is stated in the (Parliament’s) Hansard. There were no facts that should be investigated.

“Meanwhile, Karpal’s incident happened outside the House and there were some allegations that should be investigated. Hence, the setting up of this special committee,” said Nazri, adding that the committee members who decided to leave will not be replaced by other MPs.

He also said that he had no problem with the withdrawal as the investigation under the committee will go on as planned and any findings made will be brought into the House for final decision.

“We’ll see whether they (opposition) would stage a walk-out or not. This is democracy, they’re not children anymore,” he said.

When asked what if the findings do not favour the opposition, Nazri merely added: “Well, whose fault is that?”

Kiandee: Inquiry valid

ronald kiandee On a separate note, committee member and deputy speaker Ronald Kiandee said that the inquiry held today was “valid” although there were some missing members.

“We had enough quorum to start the inquiry today...even though there are members who decided to leave the committee, this does not affect the investigation,” he said.

The inquiry today, said Kiandee, had called three witnesses and they were Karpal’s personal aide Michael and two security guards. It was heard before House Speaker Pandikar. It lasted for about 40 minutes.

According to him, they will be holding another inquiry tomorrow with the Umno Youth members involved in the mobbing of Karpal taking the witness stand.

A total of 11 witnesses are to be called for the inquiry.