The opposition MPs' emergency motion to debate in Parliament today the "alarming" downward trend of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) and the poor public confidence in the country's leadership was rejected by the House Speaker.

Speaker Mohamed Zahir Ismail said the motion under standing order 18 (1) and 18 (2) was refused because the house had had numerous opportunities to discuss such matters during the budget sessions, the Supplementary Bill, the Eighth Malaysia Plan and at the recent unveiling of the Third Outline Perspective Plan (OPP3) by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"Although the matter is of a specific nature and concerns the public, it is not urgent. Therefore I rule that this matter is of no urgency to be debated today," he said.

PAS member of parliament (MP) for Tumpat Kamaruddin Jaffar argued that the KLSE's plunge to 550 points last Monday was ' mencemaskan ' (alarming).

The sharp decline occurred a few days after Mahathir announced the RM3 billion special fund package to boost the economy in tandem with his presentation of the OPP3 in parliament, said Kamaruddin.

"This is truly disheartening. Our leaders claim the KLSE's performance is due to the slowdown of the United States' (US) economy but this has been rejected by investors and international analysts instead relate it to a lack of public confidence in the country's leadership," he said.

Denial syndrome

He said the KLSE is one of the main indicators of a country's economic well-being. Its poor performance, he added, has turned away investors.

"This will definitely affect the country's ability to implement the OPP3 and the Eighth Malaysia Plan. The country's reserves has also gone down to US$1.5 billion in two weeks since March 1," said Kamaruddin.

The matter was urgent as the government needed to come up with a concrete action plan to provide a conducive condition for economic growth in order to restore public confidence in the country's share market, he added.

Meanwhile, most opposition MPs were seen sporting a white band around their arm as a sign of protest against the Internal Security Act (ISA) and a show of sympathy for the seven reformasi activists detained under it over the past two days.

Police said the seven, six of whom are opposition Parti Keadilan leaders and members, were arrested under the ISA for their alleged involvement in a plot to topple the government using bombs and grenade launchers.

Opposition parties and non-governmental organisations have condemned the police action and called for the immediate and unconditional release of the seven detainees.