PRESENT POINT POWER

ABOVE: The renovated Malaysian Parliament; how many have been inside in the public gallery?

The Dewan Rakyat came to a standstill on Monday when several DAP members traded heated words with the Minister n the Prime Minister Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz during the winding up debate for the Budget 2007. And this caused several opposition members including the leader Lim Kit Siang to leave the hall for 5 minutes as a sign of protest.

Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang : "We walk out in protest, to show our anger & our frustration" speaking outside the Dewan Rakyat during the 5 minutes walkout

When Lim Kit Siang asked Datuk Nasri for an explanation on the government’s direction under the leadership of Prime Minister and also wanted an explanation of Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi remarks in Havana that he had not lost control off the administration, Datuk Nasri however, refused to give the floor to the opposition leader seeking a clarification on his questions leading to a war of words that lasted for 15 mins. In the end the Deputy speaker Lim Si Cheng has to intervened and calm the explosive situation.

UPDATE: 23^rd Sep 06’ From The Sun; 22 Sept 2006

The Nazri exit mystery
Nazri is not one to run away from a good fight or an opportunity to disparage members of the Opposition, especially Kit Siang. by Zainon Ahmad.

QUITE a few MPs are still speculating on why Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz left the Dewan Rakyat on Monday without completing his 80-page roundup of the general debate onBudget 2007.

He did not leave in a huff and neither was there anger on his face. In fact he even smiled at a few BN backbenchers as he made his way out of the House, leaving almost everyone quite nonplussed by his behaviour. In fact DAP MPs felt quite insulted by Nazri's turning his back on them after doggedly reading his speech at breakneck speed, seemingly
oblivious to their requests for penjelasan (clarification) on his replies relating to, among other things, the tsunami fund, the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the role of Umno Youth deputy leader Khairy Jamaludin.

Others, especially BN MPs, were quite annoyed because even though the minister said he would give his speech to those who wanted them much of the responses to the queries they made would not be recorded in the Hansard. There was pandemonium and complete bedlam as everyone spoke at the same time Nazri reading his speech with DAP MPs shouting for penjelasan and making loud remarks that "he is out of control", BN backbenchers shouting back at the oppositionists to keluar and deputy speaker Datuk Lim Si Cheng shouting cukuplah, cukuplah as he strove to restore order.

When order returned, things started getting out of hand again when Nazri was arguing with Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah) over the use of such unparliamentary words such as kurang ajar and pekak. Lim then called for everyone's cooperation to maintain order in the House or he was going to limit the time for the minister's reply. When Fong said it was fine with her, Nazri said "if you want me to stop, I'll stop. I'll stop. I'll stop now". The deputy speaker said Nazri should finish his speech and asked for the number of pages he had left.

When Nazri told him 60, Lim asked whether half an hour would be sufficient.
Nazri: I can finish now.
Lim: Can you finish in half an hour? I leave it to you. Can you finish
it in half an hour?

Nazri: Sekarang boleh habis.

Lim: It's up to you.
Nazri: Mr Speaker, since my speech is very long and since it will be distributed to those interested, I now end my rounding up. Thank you.
Lim: Sudah habis? Baik.
Why did Nazri do what he did? Was he hounded out of the Dewan by Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang and his band of 11 DAP men and women who were plainly quite irritated and angry with Nazri for ignoring their pleas for clarification? Surely not. Nazri is not one to run away from a good fight or an opportunity to disparage members of the
Opposition, especially Kit Siang. In fact he is known to have emerged unscathed from the many verbal scrapes, in the Dewan Rakyat as well as outside.

Did he feel he was under pressure because he was pressed for time or was he peeved with deputy speaker Lim harassing him by asking him if he could finish in half an hour? All these were speculated upon by some MPs in the comfort of their Members Lounge. Yet some others offered even more bizarre and outrageous explanations for Nazri's
behaviour that day.

They all agree that it could not be due to his being deluged with requests for clarification because others too, especially Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who began his rounding up speech when the Dewan sat again after lunch, had to put up with countless requests for clarification. It was the normal thing.

Others agreed with Fong's assumption that Nazri had to cut short his delivery to give his colleagues from the PM's Department, Deputy Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Suliman and parliamentary secretary Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim, time to complete their rounding up by lunch time so that Najib could start his at 2.30.

In fact Fong said so to Najib even before he could start his speech. After the deputy prime minister refused to give in to her repeated requests for penjelasan, she shouted in her shrill voice and in English: "Is the whole parliament to suit the time of the deputy prime minister?"

She sat down only after the uproar died down and only after she managed to shout above the din that "hopefully what happened today would not be repeated". Najib took about half an hour and was followed by Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy. Most ministers turned up to respond to the points raised about their ministries during the debate.

The 31 ministries managed to complete their responses by around midnight on Thursday the last day of the meeting. The Supply Bill 2007 or Budget 2007 will be scrutinised further at committee stage when the Dewan Rakyat, adjourning for Ramadan, reconvenes in November. Among the thoughts that MPs returning to their constituencies will take with them will be Nazri's use of "your mentor" a euphemism for Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whenever he was involved in an altercation with Karpal Singh (DAPBukit Gelugor). Another was linking the term dictatorship with the former PM.

This came about on Tuesday, when Nazri, explaining why Abdullah was being talked about as losing control, said it was because people could speak freely now.

"During the past administration, it was a bit of a dictatorship, people were not free," he said.

=====================================
At the Dewan Rakyat yesterday: 'Unstoppable' Nazri irks DAP;19 Sep 2006
Wan Hamidi Hamid, Eileen Ng and Arman Ahmad

A SLANGING match erupted in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday as DAP MPs trained their guns on, who did not disappoint them.

Although the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department was forced to cut short his 80-page speech to 20 pages, he gave as good as he got.
He refused to give way to Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur), who wanted clarification on the direction of the government under Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Lim had sought clarification on the Prime Minister’s remarks in Havana, Cuba, that he had not lost control of his administratio

However, Nazri continued like a "bullet train" — Lim’s description of his speaking style — which infuriated Lim further.

Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah) and Chong Eng (DAP- Bukit Mertajam) entered the exchange at this point to challenge Nazri’s statement that he reserved the right to continue without giving way.

As the 12 DAP MPs tried to get deputy speaker Datuk Lim Si Cheng’s attention to speak, the minister, who is known for his frank manner, refused to accede.

For close to 50 minutes, mayhem prevailed as MPs from both sides of the political divide exchanged words which threatened on occasion to get them into hot water.

When calls for "point of order" and repeated attempts to get the minister to provide explanations failed, unparliamentary language crept in.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz: Using his left & right index fingers he silenced the DAP members with unparliamentary language

But MPs from both sides managed to steer clear of trouble despite words like "kurang ajar’" (rude), "bodoh" (stupid) and "pekak" (deaf) as Si Cheng had his hands full maintaining decorum.

Datuk Nazri gesturing , "no way will I give the floor"

As Nazri stood his ground and read from his prepared speech, Datuk Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar (BN-Larut) told the DAP MPs to leave if they did not want to listen to Nazri.

This led to a "walkout" by 10 DAP MPs led by Kit Siang but it was short-lived as they trooped back five minutes later.

In the interim, Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) asked Si Cheng to "restrain the out-of- control minister" but Nazri was not to be stopped.

The verbal fracas came to an end when Si Cheng asked Nazri to shorten his speech.

"Can you finish it in half an hour?" he asked, to which the minister replied that he could do so immediately.

"With this I end my reply. Those who are interested in my speech can get printed copies from me later," he said.

Nazri had started off well in his winding-up on the debate on the Supply Bill 2007 but walked into problems when talking about funds raised for tsunami victims and former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s allegations against the government.

Speaking in the lobby later, Nazri reiterated his stand that he had the right not to give way to opposition MPs. He said MPs could discuss his reply during the committee stage of proceedings.

===========================================

From The Sun; 19 Sept 2006
Speedy Nazri; UPROAR AS MINISTER RACES THROUGH WINDING-UP
by B. Suresh Ram and Pauline Puah

KUALA LUMPUR: A minister did a Speedy Gonzalez to finish reading out his 80-page windingup speech, sparking an uproar and a brief walkout of the Dewan Rakyat by six opposition MPs.

What roused their ire was that Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz refused to entertain any interjections for clarification and was bent on racing through the text.

The reason for his haste: "There are 30 ministers who need to wind up in the remaining four days of sitting before the fasting month break. "They (MPs) will have their opportunity (to ask questions) in November."

Datuk Nazri : "Listen, there are 30 ministers... ask more questions in November"

Nazri started by denying that there was misuse of the Tsunami Aid Fund
.
As he was speaking abnormally fast, the DAP MPs got agitated when Nazri refused to allow interjections. They shouted and accused him of disrespect and misleading the House.

Nazri, who is the minister overseeing parliamentary affairs, irked the MPs when he uttered kurang ajar (ill-bred) against Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) who accused him of misleading the House for providing wrong data on the Tsunami Aid Fund.
Datuk Nazri explaining: There is no misuse of the Tzunami funds, Audit Report confused with National Disaster Fund

Unfazed, Nazri continued to speak and also ignored Deputy Speaker Datuk Lim Si Cheng's attempt to stop him when Karpal invoked the Standing Order to get Nazri to withdraw the words.

Karpal Singh: "Withdraw the words....kurang ajar (ill-bred)"

Before Lim could restore calm, explaining that Nazri had in fact withdrawn his statement, Nazri interjected: "It's his business if he (Karpal) is deaf."

Datuk Nasri: "It's his business if he (Karpal) is deaf." gesturing to his right ear

This prompted Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah) to shout:

"Chase him out of the House."

Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang also objected that no one would understand Nazri if he continued speed reading.

Datuk Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar (BN-Larut) then lent his support to the minister by saying: "If they (Opposition MPs) are stubborn. Chase them out of the House." Shouts of "Get out! Get out!" were heard from the

Above the din, reporters were unable to hear Nazri who continued reading his speech. At this juncture, the DAP MPs, except Fong and wheelchair-bound Karpal, walked out. They returned about five minutes later.

Karpal Singh had several times tried to stop Nazri from delivering his speech.

Karpal Singh:

"We have to control him (Nazri). He has become mad (gila)," said, sparking another round of commotion.
Lim asked Nazri how much longer he would need and Nazri replied: "It is 60 pages." When Lim asked if he could finish it within half-an-hour, Nazri said:
"I could finish it now." He promptly sat down.

In a statement later, Lim said: "Nazri behaved in the most unchar acteristic manner in refusing to entertain any clarification during his winding up speech on Budget 2007.

"He shot off his reply like a bullet train, utterly disregarding whether it is understood by MPs from both the Barisan Nasional and Opposition."

Lim said there was totally no give-and-take to allow MPs to seek clarification on his answers to many important issues, which included whether Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has "lost control" of the cabinet and government and his failure to "walk the talk" of his election pledges of reform, particularly in the areas of eradicating corruption.

Others include establishing an efficient public service delivery as having a professional world-class police service with the establishment of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission.

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