A DAP lawmaker has told Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Azalina Othman Said that he was elected to check corruption and not to debate about drains or potholes.

Tony Pua said this in response to the minister asking opposition MPs to give precedence to issues that concern the people under their respective constituencies.

“The blinkered minister obviously doesn't realise that my constituents voted for me not because I spend my time debating about drains and potholes in my constituency – although those problems are dealt with by my office with the local council.

“They gave me a specific mandate to not only check a corrupt and kleptocratic government but also to expose all the wrongdoings of those who are in power.

“In fact, as an MP who achieved the second highest majority in the country with 45,000 votes in the last general election, my constituents believe their livelihood would be much better – less debt, better exchange rates and lower cost of living – if I succeed in throwing out the BN administration in the next round,” added the Petaling Jaya Utara MP in a statement.

Pua also criticised Azalina over her denial that there was a cover-up by Parliament with regard to Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia rejecting more than 30 questions related to 1MDB.

“The fact that a member of the executive, who is an interested party in the scandal, had to defend the speaker who is supposed to be impartial in running the august House, speaks volumes,” he said.

Pua also challenged the minister over her claim that the 1MDB-related questions contravened the Dewan Rakyat standing orders.

“As an example, let me ask the minister, how the following rejected question was against the standing orders.

“I had asked the minister of finance to 'menyatakan baki nilai terkini pelaburan 'unit' yang dimiliki oleh anak syarikat 1MDB, Brazen Sky Limited dan nama institusi bank atau kewangan yang kini menjadi 'custodian’ kepada pelaburan tersebut'. (State the remaining current value of the unit investment belonging to 1MDB subsidiary Brazen Sky Ltd and name the bank or financial institution which is the custodian of that investment.)

“The speaker had rejected the above question on the pretext of presumably questionable assumption (sangkaan) and a figment of my imagination (buah fikiran),” he said.

Pua pointed out that the finance ministers, as well as 1MDB itself, have openly stated the company had investments in the form of “units” held with a “custodian bank” previously valued at US$2.3 billion, of which a substantial portion had apparently been redeemed.

“Hence, where is the 'sangkaan' or 'buah fikiran' in the above question when I was only asking what is the current asset value as well as which custodian bank was holding the 'units'?” he asked.

On the contrary, Pua said it is the speaker's refusal to approve the question which leads to the assumption that the units are fraudulent or of minimal value, and perhaps there is no longer a custodian bank.

“Pandikar has unquestionably and possibly irreversibly condemned Parliament into a kangaroo sitting.

“Instead of leaving a legacy of reform which will lead us to the heights of a first world Parliament, he has now disgraced the highest legislative institution of the land,” he added.