Although DAP embattled chairperson Karpal Singh had gained much public sympathy over his six-month suspension from Parliament, several voters from his Bukit Gelugor constituency however think that he should have apologised for the sake of the constituents.

Lawyer K. Poovirajan, 41, said although the issue was trivial, Karpal should have tendered his apology and continue to represent his voters in Parliament.

"I agree that he was a victim of selective persecution by Barisan Nasional over a trivial issue. But the lengthy six-month suspension could have been avoided if only he had apologised. Now Bukit Gelugor constituents have been deprived of parliamentary representation," he said.

A 45-year-old petrol kiosk attendant, Hakim Hamid agreed with Poovirajan that a simple apology could have put the whole matter to rest.

"He could have said that he was apologising for the sake of his constituents even though he was not wrong. That way, his pride would be redeemed," Hakim said.

Karpal was suspended on Sept 10 when he refused to apologise for misleading Parliament by questioning the oath-taking of MPs who failed to raise their hands when being sworn in on May 17.

Since then, DAP has launched a campaign to gain public support for their chairperson.

The BN-controlled House had on Sept 7 passed a motion to suspend Karpal after it debated and voted to accept the report submitted by the parliamentary privileges committee.

The committee's report was tabled after Karpal had refused to respond to a 'show-cause' letter from the speaker, who claimed that he had misdirected the House.

Mountain out of molehill

When he also refused to apologise to the House, he was slapped with a six-month suspension. His MP's monthly stipend and other allowances were also withdrawn..

A 42-year-old teacher, Mohd Ariff Ismail, said while BN made a mountain out of a molehill, the DAP chairperson managed to capitalise on it and gained much political mileage from his roadshow.

However, he blamed both BN and DAP for turning a trivial matter into a major political issue when "there are bigger and important issues to be resolved for the nation's progress."

Another teacher, K. Surenthiran 40, said Karpal's situation clearly showed that the BN had misused and abused its power.

"It's bad for democracy and dents the country's surge towards good governance," he said.

Social activist Susan Teoh, 50, said the DAP chairperson should have say 'sorry' for the sake of public interests.

"Bukit Gelugor constituents elected him to represent them in Parliament, not to get suspended," she said.

However, senior citizen Felix Lim 61, said the Bukit Gelugor MP was right in not apologising over a trivial matter.

"The BN-dominated Parliament merely wanted to 'hammer' Karpal because he was from the DAP.

"There are bigger national issues for Parliament to address and redress," Lim added.