8 theSun | FRIDAY MAY 2 2008

news without borders

It is a pleasant
exchange

Fiery first-day sitting

between old
adversaries
Bung Moktar
and Karpal
outside the
Dewan.

MANY were glad they came to Parliament on

Wednesday to see the first-day sitting of the
new Dewan Rakyat where for the first time At the Dewan Rakyat
more than a third of the members are from the by Zainon Ahmad
opposition parties. newsdesk@thesundaily.com
And if they are not going to be in
Parliament again, that noisy and fiery first day previous parliament.
is the picture of the Opposition-enlivened 12th For them it was almost their way of singing
Parliament they are going to carry in their the old Indian love song, especially when
head for a long time. they later smiled and shook hands outside the theSun
The schoolchildren in the public gallery Dewan. says:
held their breath as their elders – the people’s Even Bung Moktar’s repartee to the wheel- Low mark
representatives – let their hair down and chair-bound veteran lawyer that “if you dare,
indulged in a frenzy of shouting, insulting, stand up lah” seemed like re-acting of the old for rowdy
jeering, name calling, fists pumping and all script. MPs –
kinds of other gesticulations as they went for And as if on cue, members of the Pg 18
one another’s throat. Opposition, especially from Karpal Singh’s
It was different on Monday when they party, were on their feet shouting their protest.
took their oath as MPs and on Tuesday when The only difference was there were more of
they gathered to listen to the King’s speech. them this time and the whole building seemed
Then, forgetting their party affiliations, they to shake when they stood up together.
had exchanged pleasantries and even joked That he was
as they milled about in the members’ lounge, roundly chastised
in the banquet hall and in the Dewan Rakyat by many NGOs then
lobby. did not seem to
Thus, members of the public who were deter Bung Moktar.
there from Monday to Wednesday wondered Neither did it deter
whether what happened in the chamber Datuk Ibrahim Ali
during the first sitting was merely for the (Independent-Pasir
rakyat’s benefit especially when they knew Mas) especially
they were on camera. after Karpal Singh
Taking centre stage was the duel between wanted to know why
two old adversaries. Karpal Singh (DAP- he was recognised
Bukit Gelugor) had called the burly Datuk by parliament as
Bung Moktar Raden (BN-Kinbatangan) “big an independent MP
foot” and the shouter from Sabah responded when he stood under
by referring to the DAP chairman as “big PAS ticket during the
monkey”. general election.
It was nothing new between the two and Many wondered
they had merely reprised what they did in the whether the seeming

chaos was because of the new Speaker,

Sabahan Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia,
new Dewan Rakyat secretary Roosme
Hamzah and many new members who
took to shouting “point of order, point of
order” like they were veterans.
And like the veterans, they thrust
their rules book at the Speaker who
made several rulings they found
unacceptable. They challenged the
Speaker further when he said: “I have
ruled and my ruling is final.”
They peppered him with questions
about the oath-taking, about the
arrangement of the questions in the
day’s order paper and on why the
newly-elected Opposition Leader Datin
Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail
(PKR-Permatang Pauh) was not given
the opportunity to ask the first question.
On a number of occasions the
Speaker asked everyone to sit down
while he lectured them about the
procedure and the convention of the
house especially, “when I speak, no one
else speaks and no one should be on his
feet at that time” and “when I make a
ruling, it is final”.
It was only after 20 minutes that Top: Pandikar Amin: “When I speak, no
the first question, directed at the finance one else speaks and no one should be
minister, was asked by Bung Moktar. Datuk on his feet at that time” and “when I
Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who had make a ruling, it is final”.
been in his seat since 10 minutes before the
Dewan convened and was in the House till Centre: Lim and his team stand
the end of question hour, answered. up together to protest against
After the prime minister sat down the the Speaker for refusing to allow
House went into a frenzy again when the supplementary questions.
Speaker refused to allow supplementary
questions – the most interesting part of every Bottom: Khairy Jamaluddin making
sitting of the House – saying that too much a point at the august House during
time had already been wasted. question time.
Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur)
implored the prime minister to intervene.
Abdullah, as leader of the House, stood up – even if she tried. But she was no less
and said that “one or two supplementary effective. In a clear and masterly voice
questions should be alright”. The Speaker she said her first duty in speaking as
then ruled: “OK, one supplementary opposition leader is to call for the freeing
question.” of all those detained under the ISA.
Wan Azizah’s turn to debate the motion of She even did not shout Datuk
thanks to the King for his speech on Tuesday Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (BN-Pasir
came at 15 minutes to adjournment time Salak) down when he said that she only
at 5.30pm after Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting allowed her cronies to intervene during
(BN-Kulai) and Datuk Seri Tiong King her speech – she gave way to Datuk
Sing (BN-Bintulu) had spoken as proposer Seri Abdul Hadi Awang (PAS-Marang)
and seconder. instead of him.
She did not harangue the House like Kit Instead she said, and quite sweetly too:
Siang did when he was opposition leader “Don’t say that. Tak baik.”