Bung Moktar Radin (Umno-Kinabatangan) leaped to the defence of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad saying it was okay for him to question the administration of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

 

"We live in a democracy. Mahathir is playing his role as a member of the rakyat and exercising his freedom of speech," he said during debate in the Dewan Rakyat today.

 

Bung Moktar was replying to Ramkarpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) ( right ) who had asked if the recent comments by Mahathir were seditious, and should he be charged under the Sedition Act, after multiple police reports were lodged against him nationwide.

 

Bung Moktar’s response created an outburst in the house. Most opposition MPs were clearly riled up by his comments. Some protested that they were citizens as well, so why were they being charged for sedition.

 

However, Bung Moktar said he was not sure if the police would take action on Mahathir, as the police is not governed by Putrajaya.

 

“I am not the police. It is up to the police and the attorney-general. The police is an independent body, we have no control. Who can control the IGP? Nobody,” he shot back.

 

The heated exchange started after Bung had criticised Nga Kor Ming (DAP-Taiping), for posting on his Facebook page on the BMW car issue yesterday.

 

Bung chided Nga for a post on the issue which could land him in trouble under the Sedition Act.

“That is not a question, that is seditious. I have to be careful on Facebook and Twitter too, if not I’ll pay,” Bung Moktar said.

 

“The BMW cars were not bought by us (the government). If BMW wants to sponsor, what is the problem?" he asserted.