While all eyes are on Johor Baru MP Shahrir Abdul Samad over his resignation as Backbenchers Club (BBC) chair, public attention should rightfully be turned on Jasin MP Mohd Said Yusuf.

Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang made the call today, saying that Mohd Said was the one being accused of impropriety as an MP, not Shahrir.

Lim was responding to suggestions that Shahrir might faced party disciplinary action over his support for an opposition motion to refer Mohd Said Yusuf to the Parliamentary Committee of Privileges.

Mohd Said was implicated by the New Straits Times for allegedly interfering with Customs and Excise Department over the importation of sawn timber in Malacca.

He has denied any abuse of power over the matter, but instead blamed Customs director-general Abdul Rahman Abdul Hamid as the culprit behind the damning news report.

Should Sharir be punished for supporting the opposition motion meant to uphold the honour and dignity of Parliament and its MPs, it would be a major blow to the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's pursuit to realise a "First-world Parliament", said Lim.

Mohd Said's vendetta?

Lim found it ironical that Sharir would be faced with such a predicament after having just two weeks ago said in Parliament that civil service had to be restructured and rejuvenated because certain members, "didn't want to take action against their own kind".

"Shahrir is spot-on in his diagnosis of the serious cancer in the civil service, but how do Shahrir and MPs, particularly from the Barisan Nasional, expect to be respected by the civil service when they are incapable of showing a leadership example of accountability and integrity when it comes to MPs themselves?

"How can BN MPs (punish) delinquent civil servants when they are not prepared to (punish) delinquent MPs," said Lim, adding that their reluctance to refer Mohd Said to the Committee of Privileges made such MPs looked hypocritical.

According to Lim, Mohd Said might also be in breach of Dewan Rakyat Standing Order 35 (6) for failing to declare his pecuniary interest as a freight forwarding agent for 14 years when he criticised Abdul Rahman during the 2005 Supplementary Estimates debate on Tuesday.

Lim said he would again be tabling a motion to refer the matter to Committee of Priviledges on Monday should BN MPs not do so.