Two Barisan Nasional (BN) backbenchers will be let off with a stern warning for supporting an opposition motion on disciplinary action against International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz.

Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) and Mohamed Aziz (BN-Sir Gading) will receive a warning letter from BN whip and Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, said this at a press conference held in the Parliament lobby this afternoon.

"After consultation with the Attorney-General's Chambers, the cabinet was of the opinion that there was no need to discuss their status as they are not members of the administration," he said.

"As a MP, they actually did not make any mistake (by supporting the motion) in the House. The only mistake was their conduct, which contravened the party's disciplinary rules."

He explained that Najib is empowered to act against them, so that this serves as a reminder to the duo - both in their second term now as elected representatives - not to do the same thing again.

Nazri said it was understandable why they had gone overboard in their remarks during heated debates over the failure of Rafidah to appear in the Dewan Rakyat to respond to pending questions on issuance of Approved Permits (APs).

The duo have tendered an apology to Najib for supporting the motion tabled by Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor) to refer Rafidah and her ministry's secretary-general Sidek Hassan to the parliamentary privileges committee.

No let up

To a question, Nazri said there was no discussion as to whether or not to appoint an acting minister to replace Rafidah, who will go on a month's leave from today for knee surgery.

The cabinet has not issued any directive to order Rafidah to wind up debate on the issues either, he said.

She attended the cabinet meeting this morning, but Nazri said there was no further discussion of her explanations in relation to APs in the House yesterday. Several parliamentarians had felt that her clarification had raised more questions.

Bung Moktar, when met at the Parliament lobby today, said he would accept any form of disciplinary action against him, and pledged to continue being vocal in the House.

"We will continue to fight for the people's welfare. We will not stop...this is just the beginning. This incident will strengthen our struggle to fight for national interest and we will not protect anyone if they make mistakes," he told reporters.

Mohamed also said he would continue to raise issues. Insisting that he has not made a mistake in this matter, he described the situation as a "misunderstanding".

"In Parliament sittings, we have freedom and democracy, I was merely exercising my freedom of speech in the House," Mohamed said.

On why he had apologised if he has not made mistake, he replied: "This is a Malay custom and part of (our) culture. Sometimes Malays say sorry even if they haven't done anything wrong."

Motion rejected

In a related development, Lim failed in his bid today to refer English-language dailies the New Straits Times (NST) and The Star to the privileges committee for "misquoting" him on a supplementary question posed to Rafidah yesterday.

Lim had asked whether the cabinet's decision in 1997 to give each MP an AP was with the intention to buy their silence because Rafidah had allegedly been involved in allocating shares worth millions of ringgit to her son-in-law some years ago (which she has denied).

The Star quoted him as saying Rafidah had allocated APs to her son-in-law. Lim pointed out that the NST report was incomplete in reproducing his question as it "did not give sufficient particulars".

Speaker Ramli Ngah Talib, in rejecting the motion, said that if this was true Lim could bring up the matter with the dailies for rectification.

In another development, Backbenchers Club chief Shahrir Abdul Samad, when asked to comment on Rafidah's explanation, said the minister was able to get away without answering the questions because parliamentarians were not specific enough.

"It's not a question of whether I'm satisfied or not (with Rafidah's explanation). I understand that in Parliament, a minister can answer the way he or she likes, unless the MP is allowed - or the chair (takes the initiative) - to point out immediately that the minister has not answered the question," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

"It is important for the speaker to play this role... I accept the dynamics of answering a question in the House... Most of the time the minister can just get away without answering the question."

On Rafidah's threat to sue the opposition leader, Shahrir said the minister could not do so because Lim has immunity as a parliamentarian. She can only act if he repeats the statement outside the House.