Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia has demanded an apology from former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad for undermining the independence of Parliament during the latter's 22-year reign.

Pandikar said the Mahathir administration had repealed the Parliament Services Act - a key legislation which separated executive power from the legislative - in 1992.

"I want Mahathir to apologise. Why is it when he was prime minister that he abolished the Parliamentary Services Act which is the most important thing in any parliament to separate the powers of the executive from the legislative.

"Why was that not mentioned in their resolution if they truly wanted to strengthen Parliament?" Pandikar told reporters today.

He said this while commenting on the four resolutions passed during an opposition-led meeting on parliamentary immunity on Monday.

Mahathir (photo) was among those in attendance, along with former cabinet ministers Muhyiddin Yassin and Shafie Apdal.

The meeting was called after police began investigating Muhyiddin, Shafie and another former cabinet minister, Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, over their recent Dewan Rakyat speeches.

Mahathir had criticised Pandikar for being a "government goalkeeper" for using his position to protect Putrajaya from scrutiny in the Dewan Rakyat.

Last year, Pandikar had urged Putrajaya to revive the act because it outlined parliamentary functions and services, as well as uphold the principle of separation of powers.

Lest you forget, Kit Siang

Meanwhile, Pandikar said he was saddened by the resolution put forth during the meeting, because he said the difference between Parliament today and during the Mahathir-era was too vast.

He said DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, who organised the meeting on Monday, appeared to have forgotten that his attempts to speak freely was once curtailed during the Mahathir's time.

Pandikar said Lim had once attempted to table a motion to debate the Perwaja Steel controversy, but it was blocked.

"Maybe he (Lim) remembers or doesn't remember, but he had filed a motion under Standing Order 18(1) to debate Perwaja, but the speaker at the time, Mohamed Zahir Ismail, did not allow the motion."

The speaker also "thanked" Lim for bestowing upon him a shortened version of the "mahazalim", label which was once applied to Mahathir by the latter's critics.

"He doesn't say mahazalim, but he called me zalim (cruel). I say 'thank you Lim'," Pandikar said in jest during a press conference at the Parliament reception room today.

He said that one day he may also be called "firaun (pharaoh)", if he ever makes it into a position of power.

But he noted that one day Lim may stop calling him these names if they ever end up on the same side in politics, just as how the opposition has stopped insulting Mahathir.