Motion to suspend Najib for Felda paper leak to be tabled in Dewan

The government has moved a motion to hit Pekan MP Najib Abdul Razak with a three-month suspension for insulting the Parliament.

Najib has been accused of breaking an embargo by uploading part of the contents of the Felda White Paper on his Facebook page.

The motion is listed as the first item in the Standing Order for the Dewan Rakyat’s sitting today, and is expected to be tabled by a minister in the Prime Minister's Department.

According to the wording of the motion, Najib published a statement containing excerpts from the embargoed Felda White Paper on April 9, despite the House only lifting the embargo at 11.30am the following day.

"The action of the honourable Pekan has clearly violated Clause 95A of the Standing Order of Dewan Rakyat.

"As such, it is agreed that the honourable Pekan must be suspended from his duty as MP for three months," it read.

The White Paper – titled "Towards a Sustainable Felda" – was given to lawmakers a day before the April 10 debate.

An embargo note was labelled on the front cover of the document to remind lawmakers not to make the contents public before the date.

On Tuesday, Najib uploaded a snapshot of the White Paper, and revealed that a 'put option' was included in Felda's purchase of a 37 percent stake in Indonesia's Eagle High Plantation.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad pledged to take action against his predecessor.

“This is a serious matter because he is not a novice elected representative. He was once a prime minister.

“By not taking rules into account, he has published a paper that was embargoed. We view this seriously and we will take action so he will be reminded that no one is above parliamentary rules,” he told reporters.

Several MPs told Malaysiakini they expect the motion to suspend Najib to be passed in the Dewan Rakyat with a simple majority today.