DAP Ipoh Timor parliamentarian Lim Kit Siang was suspended from Parliament proceedings this morning up to 1pm for saying that Umno is “power-crazy”.

parliament pandikar amin anwar ibrahim lim kit siang dap pkr pc 121108 04 Deputy Speaker Ronald Kiandee issued the suspension order after Lim (left) questioned the hasty manner in which the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Amendment) 2009 Bill was being debated.

“We were not given proper notice and there was no consultation. We should have been given a day's notice to review the amendments... this is totally against the Standing Orders of the House,” Lim had said.

Kiandee pointed out that Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz had made an announcement yesterday after the first reading, that the Bill would be tabled for the second and third reading today.

“The government has the power to prioritise which Bills are to be brought forward. Sufficient time was given to members of parliament to be prepared for the debate,” said Kiandee.

fong poh kuan Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah) then interjected to ask: “Does the Executive control Parliament? The amendments were only given to us yesterday. We can’t just amend the Bill at short notice.”

Mohd Nazri said the second reading had been brought forward to give the MPs the opportunity to debate the Bill at this session, which ends today.

However, as he was reading the Bill, opposition MPs began raising objections under the Standing Orders. He ignore the interjections.

When the debate was opened to the floor, Lim once more said that parliamentarians should have been given more time to study the Bill.

“I know that all Umno members of parliament are crazy about the general assembly and elections,” he said, following it up with the remark that “Umno is power-crazy”.

Reason for amendments

This ignited a war of words between Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat parliamentarians.

BN lawmakers told Lim to withdraw his remark. Refusing to do so, he said that he was just stating the obvious and that there was no offence in his words.

BN MPs called Lim “a dog” and “bastard”. One not just shouted “Anjing!” but even went “Woof! Woof!”

mohamad aziz sri gading mp Mohamad Aziz (BN-Sri Gading) warned Lim to not insult Umno, saying: “You are trying our patience... take back what you said.”

Lim shouted back: “I will not take back what I said, Umno is power-crazy.”

Kiandee repeatedly told Lim to sit, but he refused to heed the order. This led to his suspension until the lunch break.

bung moktar radin After Lim left the House, the deputy speaker ordered Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan, right ) to retracted his remark that the DAP parliamentarian was “biadap” (insolent).

Amendments to the Human Rights Commission Act have been necessitated by requirements set by the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC).

The ICC has given the government up to tomorrow to incorporate changes on the appointment of commissioners, failing which the commission’s ranking will be lowered.

For the record, the Human Rights Commission (Amendment) Bill 2009 was passed by the Dewan Rakyat after undergoing voting twice - at the policy and committee stages today.

The current session of the Dewan Rakyat was extended up to today from March 19.