The government's motion to suspend an opposition member of Parliament for allegedly making contemptuous remarks against the House speaker will be debated tomorrow.

De facto Law Minister Dr Rais Yatim gave notice to the House of his intention to move a motion to censure Fong Po Kuan (DAP - Batu Gajah) for accusing speaker Mohamed Zahir Ismail of "abusing his powers".

Fong, whose motion to debate the tampering of the Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP) results was rejected, had also accused Zahir of attempting to obstruct Parliament and its members from carrying out their duties.

Rais, who filed the motion on behalf of the prime minister, said Fong should be suspended for six months without pay and allowances, and issue a public apology.

He also proposed that newspapers who had published her report be warned so that the House will not be "insulted" in the future.

In an immediate response, Zahir conceded that MPs who abuse the Parliament should be disciplined as the House is the highest 'court' in the country.

Abuse of power

Zahir said no one should be allowed to "bring down the dignity of the House or abuse it. Anyone who does so must be stopped".

"If we (speakers) are wrong, there is a remedy. MPs can invoke a standing order to challenge our decisions," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

Zahir said Fong should not have ventured to "disparage" him.

Fong had applied on Nov 29 for the House to debate the issue of the tampered CLP examination results.

Her request was dismissed last Tuesday by the speaker for not fulfilling the three pre-requisites needed for debate - that of urgency, a specific topic and public interest.

Dissatisfied with the decision, Fong later made a press statement claiming that the speaker had abused his power arbitrarily and prevented Parliament and its members from playing their role.

Fong held the view that the speaker had erred in making the decision because her motion was primarily to debate the issue of tampered passing marks.

She argued that it was not sub judice to do so as the case filed in court was to nullify the results, which was another issue altogether.

Right to fair comment

Meanwhile, the other nine DAP MPs said the motion to suspend Fong without pay was "most shocking, unprecedented and would set a dangerous precedent to stifle the right of MPs to make fair comment".

In a joint statement, they called the proposed punishment "harsh".

"Since the CLP scandal is of great public importance, as a responsible MP she had wanted Parliament to debate the issue and a royal commission of inquiry be set up to get to the roots of the problems," said the MPs.

"We are of the view that she has acted without ill intent and malice whatsoever against the speaker of the institution of Parliament," they added.

Some MPs who had been suspended were Karpal Singh (DAP - Jelutong) and Fong Kiat Weng (DAP - Bukit Bintang), for having uttered contemptuous remarks of a similar nature against Parliament.

In 1984, Karpal was expelled from Parliament for remarks made in the Dewan Rakyat against the Sultan of Johor, who was then King. Karpal was asked to apologise but refused to do so.

Not to be over-sensitive

Karpal, who is no longer MP, today urged Zahir not to be over-sensitive to criticism as he "does not live in an ivory tower and beyond criticism from any quarter".

He said the proposed disciplinary actions against Fong was unprecedented and unwarranted as her remarks were made outside the House.

"In my view, the Dewan Rakyat has no jurisdiction to punish Fong if she does not tender an apology for her remarks made outside the House," said Karpal.

"The government will be abusing the process of Parliament if it pursues the motion to its logical end," he added.

He also defended the newspapers' right to carry the remarks and said they should not be condemned for doing their duty to the public.