Parliament will not be debating the controversy surrounding the Lingam tape as an opposition motion on the matter was rejected by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Ramli Ngah Talib today.


 Ramli said the urgent motion from Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (PKR-Permatang Pauh) to debate the need for a royal commission of inquiry was dismissed because the issue was already being investigated by the authorities.


 <img align="right" height="223" hspace="5" src="http://corp.malaysiakini.com/cms/ib/data/4/94/23536.jpg" width="200"/>
 He also said that the government has set up a three-member panel to probe the tape.


 This is the second time the motion was rejected by the House speaker - the
 
 <a href="/news/73861" target="_blank">
 first time
 </a>
 
 for 'technical reasons'.


 Two weeks ago, Wan Azizah was informed in writing that the motion was dismissed because her notification was made too early.


 According to parliamentary rules, any motion to urgently debate any particular matter must be filed 24 hours before a sitting.


 Wan Azizah had disputed this and eventually she was allowed to re-submit the motion.


 
 
 Panel has no powers
 
 


 In her motion speech, she claimed that the three-member panel led by former Chief Justice of Malaya Haidar Mohd Noor and the Anti Corruption Agency had failed to deliver.


 <img align="left" height="474" hspace="5" src="http://corp.malaysiakini.com/cms/ib/data/4/97/24355.jpg" width="140"/>
 She argued that the ACA and the panel are more inclined towards "hunting down the producer of the tape and threatening those who revealed the tape with incarceration."


 PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, vice-president R Sivarasa and Anwar's secretary Sim Tze Tzin had been issued
 
 <a href="/news/73813" target="_blank">
 
 ultimatums
 
 </a>
 
 by the ACA - either they reveal the source and the original tape or face jail.


 Speaking briefly to the media after her motion was rejected in the Dewan, Wan Azizah said she was "frustrated" with the decision.


 Wan Azizah added that the motion was of grave importance as following the tape's release, public confidence in the judiciary continued to wane and Ramli's rejection did not help government effort to reinstate public trust in the judiciary.


 "As long as we delay the decision to set up the royal commission, the
 
 rakyat
 
 will always hold a negative perception towards the country's judiciary, This will lead to the deterioration of the people's trust in the country's system of democracy as a whole," she said.


 Last month, PKR
 
 de facto
 
 leader Anwar Ibrahim released part of a video tape implicating senior lawyer VK Lingam in a 2002 telephone conversation - purportedly with current Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim - allegedly brokering judicial appointments.


 This has prompted public outrage, leading the legal fraternity to hold a 3.5km 'Walk for Justice' in Putrajaya to protest the sorry state of the judiciary.


 Ramli Ngah Talib could not be contacted for comments.


 
 <a href="/news/72772" target="_blank">
 
 SPECIAL REPORT: The Lingam tape
 
 </a>

<img align="left" height="64" hspace="5" src="http://corp.malaysiakini.com/cms/ib/data/2/44/11089.jpg" width="64"/>
 updated version
 

Despite being allowed to re-file, Wan Azizah's motion to debate the setting up of a royal commission to probe into the scandalous Lingam tape was shot down by the speaker.

House speaker throws out Lingam tape motion

~RM12

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