Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Azalina Othman Said has berated opposition MPs calling for the speaker of Parliament to resign, telling them to go through the proper procedures to show disagreement.

“There are ways to challenge the decision (of the speaker), not call the speaker to step down or make ill assumptions when the decisions do not favour them,” she said in a statement.

Azalina said the actions of three DAP lawmakers who have called on Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia to resign for rejecting a motion on 1MDB were “smearing the hallowed name of the House”.

“The statement issued by the DAP MPs that Pandikar Amin was akin to 'covering up a corruption scandal' is also a malicious accusation,” she said.

On Wednesday, Nga Kor Ming (Taiping), Ngeh Koo Ham (Beruas) and V Sivakumar (Batu Gajah) issued a statement condemning Pandikar for disallowing an emergency motion on the seizure of a luxury yacht linked to businessman Jho Low and questions related to 1MDB.

The speaker yesterday defended his actions, claiming that the Parliament Standing Orders give him the right to reject any motion without the need to justify.

Pandikar (photo) claimed the standing orders gave him liberty to reject questions that contain any “opinion, argument, ironical or offensive expression”, and that it was his right to interpret.

Parroting Pandikar's defence citing the standing orders on the powers of the speaker, Azalina lamented it was becoming a common affair for opposition MPs to use Parliament to “attack the government” and make accusations about the speaker that make him appear “pressured or unprofessional”.

“Like it was said before, MPs can have their differing opinions and hold their respective political ideologies.

“But every MP needs to maintain his or her standing as 'Ahli Yang Berhormat' (honourable member) and not behave like 'Ahli Yang Tiada Hormat' (an MP without honour),” she said.

Legal challenge failed

Despite the 1MDB scandal having sparked investigations and court action in a number of countries, attempts by opposition MPs to discuss the issue in Parliament have thus far failed.

An attempt to challenge Pandikar's decision to not allow questions related to 1MDB to be raised in Parliament last month also failed as the High Court allowed the application from the speaker to strike out the suit.

Lawyer and Padang Serai MP N Surendran lamented that the judge did not offer any grounds for the decision.

"We are disappointed and will appeal this decision as it is a serious matter of public interest.

"The speaker is bound by the constitution and if MPs cannot raise questions related to 1MDB, where else can these be raised?" Surendran asked.