Among other issues in Parliament today, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz said that the EC was still conducting a study on the possible use of indelible ink in the future.

Status of the VK Lingam video

In a written answer to the question by Wee Choo Keong (PKR-Wangsa Maju) on the action taken by the Attorney-General's Chambers on the VK Lingam video on judicial fixing, the prime minister said that four investigation papers were initiated by the Anti-Corruption Agency (now known as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission).

vk lingam aca lingam tape 211107 Three of the investigation documents were sent to the AG's Chambers for further action whilst one of it was marked as 'no further action' by the director of legal and prosecution affairs.

This was because it was found that there was not enough evidence to back up the accusation under the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 (before it was abolished), said the prime minister.

According to the written answer, out of three documents that were sent to the AG's Chambers, two were labelled as 'no further action' as there were no concrete evidence, but one was now under the purview of the AG for further investigation.

EC looking into the use of indelible ink

The use of indelible ink was once again raised in the House today by Batu Gajah DAP MP Fong Po Kuan.

Fong asked Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on the government's stand on the use of ink following the Election Commission's (EC) suggestion to consider the use of the ink for future elections.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz in a written answer, said that since the ink bought before the last general election has expired, the EC had to discard it according to procedures set by government guidelines.

"On the matter of whether the EC would be using the indelible ink to strengthen the electoral process, is still under research by the EC.

"Once their research is completed, the government would look into the proposal and decide on its use," said Nazri.

Over 100,000 out of work

The Human Resources Ministry today revealed a grim forecast when it said that over 100,000 people would be out of employment by the end of year.

In an answer to a question by Tenggara MP Halimah Mohd Sadique, Human Resources Deputy Minister Noraini Ahmad revealed that 38,821 were temporarily out of jobs while 4,620 chose the voluntary separation scheme and 11,536 were permanently jobless.

The number which added up to 54,977 was tallied since October last year till yesterday from the ministry's tripartite committee which has been placed in 80 locations across the country.

To an additional question by Halimah, on professionals working overseas who might lose their jobs, Noraina said there were enough facilities for them to register themselves but only a handful did so.

Citing an example, she said only three people who worked in Singapore were registered with the ministry while only nine registered in Johor Baru when there were thousands working in the island city.

She added that RM100 million has been allocated to aid those who have been retrenched and jobless.

In a written reply to a question by Halimah on the projection by Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) which stated that 200,000 to 400,000 workers would be retrenched in 2009, Noraini said employees in the production field would be dropped as demand on export shave lessened as a result of global economic crisis.

"The government predicts that for this year, another 40,000 to 58,000 workers would be dropped amidst the financial downturn," she said.

‘Umno Youth celaka' ruckus

Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) caused a massive uproar in the House today by uttering the work 'Pemuda Umno Celaka' (Damn Umno Youth).

The DAP chairperson, while debating the motion of thanks for the royal address, brought up the issue of more than 100 police reports lodged against him for stating that he would sue the Sultan of Perak following the political crisis in Perak.

"This might be a world record. Two bullets, Mr Speaker! Under Section 57 of the Internal Security Act, if a person is in possession of even a single bullet and is found guilty, he or she is liable to face the death penalty.

"I want to know where this 'Umno Youth celaka' got two bullets," he asked, referring to the bullet threats he received recently.

This immediately caused a stern reaction from Mohd Puad Zarkashi (BN-Batu Pahat) and Abdul Rahman Dahlan (BN-Kota Belud) who demanded Karpal withdrew the unparliamentary word.

"Pemuda Umno celaka. Don't disturb me," Karpal continued causing the Dewan to descend into chaos.

On his recent criticisms of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, Karpal said he accepted Anwar as the head of the opposition coalition and any misunderstanding between them was "none of the Barisan Nasional's business".