Arul, the House speaker is not your boss
YOURSAY | ‘The House speaker did not forbid you to debate with Rafizi.’
Arul: I respect Rafizi, but speaker has last say
SRMan:
At last, everything has become quite clear.
First, 1MDB boss Arul Kanda wanted Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua to quit the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for the showdown but when he did not budge, Arul agreed to the face-off without any conditions.
But this great 'gesture' smelled of a rat. True enough, the House speaker almost immediately stepped in to demand that Pua resign from the PAC or he himself would go .
Of course, we cannot take the speaker's words for he had even played out ex-PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
And now that Pua has withdrawn and replaced by Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli, Arul himself withdrew. It seems everything done by 1MDB, in collusion with the speaker, was to get Pua out from the PAC.
If Pua had proceeded with the clash, he would be in hot soup. No, the speaker would not quit but instead get a motion filed and supported by 107 BN MPs against Pua, ban him for six months and kick him out of PAC.
If it is (fairly or unfairly) said that Pua was only half-hearted in the now aborted face-to-face meeting, Arul is 'one-up' Pua - he has no heart at all for the supposedly bare-all session.
SalvationForAll: Arul, you have no allegiance to the speaker of the House. You are not a member of the House.
You as the chairman of a major company have the power and right to deal with external provocation and use any opportunity to clear your name and the company's.
In my opinion, you have no case to prove therefore you are hiding behind this convenient excuse.
Wira: Arul, the House speaker did not forbid you to debate with Rafizi. Go debate him if you have scrotal gumption.
Versey: Listen, listen, listen, Arul, it's we, the rakyat, who value the honourable MP Pua's presence in PAC so that he can grill you.
We want him to stay in PAC and we have not forgotten the fact that you gave flimsy excuses not to turn up for your appointment with the committee, and ever since then you have been trying all kinds of tricks to get Pua out of PAC.
Hence we, the rakyat, beg Pua not to entertain the plots set up by such unscrupulous lots.
Odysseus: Arul, you have no respect for the Parliament. You failed to show up on the first appointment.
The speaker was only rescuing you from being fried by Tony. If he is really serious about investigation into 1MDB, he would have stopped the promotion of the four members of PAC to allow the PAC to continue with the investigation.
Or, allow PAC to function without the four members who were promoted to the cabinet. Yet, at the same time, he allowed you to briefed BN parties. Why?
Vijay47: Arul, great orator and all, since when did you, another Joe Public like all of us, become subservient to the Parliament?
Everybody seems to assuming roles nobody knew they had. Earlier we had a ‘ talker ’ conducting himself as though he were God, and now we have a corporate figure wanting us to believe he is a member of parliament.
I am also quite tickled by your interpretation of what speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia said cannot be done by you and Pua and no doubt soon by everyone else on the planet - no discussion on 1MDB.
It now appears, according to you, that the restriction is only in respect of the spoken version, you are still free to write, respond, and reply on paper to your heart's content.
Like I said, strange world we live in.
PKM: I knew it was planned that someone would step in and stop the debate. But Arul, you can still answer the 10 questions posed to you by Pua.
Come on, show the world you are not a ‘bullshitter’.
Baiyuensheng: 1MDB, please also explain this Australian investigation - regulators there are liquidating a little-known firm called Avestra Asset Management, saying it put its clients’ money at risk in questionable investments .
Shovelnose: If you're a professional and have any integrity left Arul, answer truthfully with facts and figures.
Stop using the same delaying tactics and stony-faced response of your boss.
The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now .
These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.
For more news and views that matter, subscribe and support independent media for only RM0.36 sen a day:
Subscribe now