The Sabah State Assembly was adjourned for more than 20 minutes today after a bad-tempered verbal match between an opposition member and several BN representatives.

Speaker Juhar Mahiruddin had taken over from his deputy, Johnny Mositun, after the argument had gone on for about 30 minutes.

As the exchange during the debate on the 2011 Budget grew noisier, Juhar decided to adjourn the assembly to give the members time to cool down.   

Jimmy Wong Sze Phin (DAP-Sri Tanjong) angered Barisan members when he asserted that the BN victory in the Batu Sapi by-election was "not a handsome win."

Ramlee Marhaban (BN-Bugaya) asked Wong how he could conclude thus when Barisan had been been returned with an increased majority.

When he was criticised for allegedly not following house procedures, Wong said the procedures were "rubbish."

After Wong argued with several Barisan members, Deputy Chief Minister Yahya Hussin asked Mositun not to allow the DAP representative to continue speaking.

'Not human'

Juhar replaced Mositun shortly after that and adjourned the assembly.

When the debate resumed, Wong agreed to retract his statement that the assembly procedures were rubbish, but heated up the atmosphere again with allegations against the government.

Ramlee described Wong in unflattering terms, but later denied saying that the opposition member was "not human."   

Juhar said he would refer to the Hansard to see if Ramlee used the words.  

If he had, he would be given a chance to retract them tomorrow, Juhar said.

Woman for deputy CM

Hamisa Samat (BN-Tanjung Batu) has proposed that a woman fill the post of Sabah deputy chief minister through a cabinet reshuffle should BN win in the coming election.

She said the move was important to increase the confidence of women towards the BN and to increase their participation in the political, social and economic arenas.

“The appointment will also encourage women to work harder, increase their knowledge and strengthen quality human capital.

“We are confident that having a woman's voice in the state cabinet line-up as well as other posts will help improve the welfare of women," she said when debating the 2011 state budget.

Hamisa said the appointment was also in line with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's and Chief Minister Musa Aman's commitment to increase participation of women in the government's decision making process by 30 per cent.

- Bernama