CHARLES HECTOR: Pakatan Guilty...BN Guilty - "Suspension from Parliament as a flagrant abuse of power ..."

I have always taken the position that no elected representative of the people must be suspended from the Parliament and/or the State Legislative Assembly. And, it is so easy for the majority to just suspend elected representatives from the minority parties...

By suspending, you deny the people of a particular constituency the ability to participate in the proceeding in Parliament/State Legislative Assembly...

Pakatan Rakyat should have been better than the BN - but alas they abused their power when the kept BN ADUNs out of the proceedings of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly, and thus Anwar and others really have more the moral authority to condemn the actions of the BN majority in Parliament in suspending them. I really worry about Pakatan Rakyat sometimes...wonder whether when they do come into power, they too will start using the ISA and Sedition Acts against their own opponents from BN....?

The Selangor assembly's powerful rights and privileges committee has suspended state opposition leader and former menteri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo for 12 months from the House....The privileges committee also called for the suspension of Barisan Nasional assemblypersons Warno DogolIsa Abdul Kasim (Batang Kali), Marsum Paing (Dengkil) and Mohamad Idris Abu Bakar (Hulu Bernam) for six months for questioning the integrity of Selcat... - Malaysiakini, 19/5/2009, Khir Toyo suspended one year

If Pakatan Rakyat seeks to be an alternative - then it must really behave differently from the BN...

1 - Take a position that they will no more resort to suspending elected representatives from the Parliament/State Legislative Assembly. Maybe they can amend the rules now - and remove the option/powers to suspend. Immediately un-suspend any ADUNs currently being suspended.

2 - Stop calling for the use of ISA, Sedition Act, etc ...on any person

3 - Stop being secretive and using the Official Secrets Act, and start declassifying all documents that have been marked secret to date in the Pakatan Rakyat government ruled States...and.....

If this practice of suspending continues - soon all Opposition MPs/ADUNs could effectively be shut out from representing and participating in the proceedings in Parliament/State Legislative Assemblies - Why can't the majority suspend immediately for say 4 - 5 years? Is this democracy...

Both the Pakatan and the BN need to stop this undemocratic behaviour ...

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has yet again slammed his suspension from Parliament as a flagrant abuse of power by ruling party Umno.

“I don't see any reason to rush through my suspension. All this is a flagrant abuse of power. I don't think they have the patience to respond to the issues raised,” he said.

In a press conference at the PKR headquarters in Petaling Jaya this morning, the Permatang Pauh MP (left) also called the charges against him as Umno's “hypocrisy”.

“For more than a decade, I have been demonised by Umno for having Jewish friends and being 'pro-Jew'. And now they enter into an agreement with an Israeli-linked company.

“Can you have a working relationship with Jews? Of course it's not a problem. But what I want to show is flagrant hypocrisy on Umno's part,” he said.

The Dewan Rakyat yesterday had passed the motion to suspend Anwar for six months over his statement linking Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's '1Malaysia' concept with the 'One Israel' slogan, with the international public relations and consultancy firm Apco Worldwide allegedly behind both campaigns.

Anwar, Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor), Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak) and R Sivarasa (PKR-Subang) were suspended for contempt for criticising the parliamentary disciplinary probe after Parliament called a vote without debating the motion.'Why is Apco so powerful?'

Anwar, in a joint press conference together with the other Pakatan MPs, also reiterated that he was never given a chance to defend himself when the Parliament's rights and privileges committee probe started in March.

This is despite Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz and speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia saying that Anwar had been given many chances to explain himself.

“(Nazri) is not telling the truth... I was not given a chance to testify at all, I appeared with a counsel on June 9 and then the committee adjourned to make a decision on whether the counsel is allowed.

“Not once was I given a chance despite our repeated appeals to add to that,” Anwar said.

Anwar had also questioned why Apco. who had claimed themselves to be a professional consultancy body, had become involved in this country's politics.

“Why is Apco so powerful in this country?” asked Anwar, who also swiftly called for Apco to take responsibility over their suspension.

Letters to international parliamentary bodies

Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena), who was also at the press conference, also said that Pakatan will be writing in protest to the International Parliamentary Union as well as the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

He also likened the episode to the Ali Baba Bujang Lapuk comedy by P Ramlee.

“In the movie, there are characters such as the chief robber and Sergeant Pendek. Sergeant Pendek likes to gamble and he would throw a dice that has 'two' on each of its sides.

“The speaker, like Sergeant Pendek, has made up his mind on the final decision whatever the outcome is. That is why there is a vote without (Anwar's) defence,” he said. - Malaysiakini, 17/12/2010, Anwar: Suspension a 'flagrant abuse of power'