Member of Parliament Kerk Kim Hock (DAP-Kota Melaka) has been suspended from the Dewan Rakyat for three days for failing to comply with a ruling issued by the House deputy speaker.

Kerk was asked to leave the House by Deputy Speaker Mohamad Abdullah after the MP insisted on Deputy Home Minister Zainal Abidin Zin answering his question which was raised in his speech earlier.

It started when Zainal Abidin continued answering questions on the Budget 2003 Bill directed to his ministry after the end of question and answer session this morning.

Kerk, who was dissatisfied with the answer from the deputy minister regarding Ops Warta II, had ignored the directive from the deputy speaker to remain seated when Zainal Abidin claimed he had replied to Kerk's questions yesterday.

After a heated exchange of words which lasted some five minutes, an angered Mohamad directed Kerk to leave the chamber and slapped a three-day suspension on the latter beginning today.

No choice

Mohamad said he had no choice but to take action against Kerk whose refusal to abide by his directive would disrupt the flow of the parliamentary meeting.

"He has made it difficult for me when he refused to sit down. Usually he abides by my order," said Mohamad, who is also the Maran MP.

Mohamad said he has informed his decision to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Mohamed Zahir Ismail who was on medical leave today.

However, he said Kerk is free to protest the decision through the proper channel available.

Meanwhile, Kerk told reporters later that he was dissatisfied with the decision made by Mohamad, claiming that it was "unjust".

"I think it very important for the minister to answer my question as the Ops Warta II has a lot of discrepancies which are unfair to motorists," he said.

Apologise

In debating the Budget 2003, Kerk had challenged the legality of summons issued by the police to the motorists under Section 115 of the Road and Transport Act 1987.

He had also requested the Home Ministry to apologise for the mistake done unto thousands of motorists.

"I believe that he (Zainal Abidin) has deliberately escaped answering my question as it might affect the credibility of the police. In reality, the motorists would be very happy if the minister openly apologised for the mistake.

"This has nothing to do with the politics at all," stressed the DAP secretary-general.

Kerk said the minister refused to admit the mistake for fear that the police would have to refund the money to motorists who have paid their summonses.

"However, I will continue to fight for the motorists' rights," he said.

Kerk said he did not expect to receive such a heavy penalty and would like to have fellow DAP MPs to issue a motion for the deputy speaker to review his decision.