Shouts In Parliament...

Barisan Nasional MPs led shouts of ‘Merdeka!’ seven times in the Dewan Rakyat this morning - and then shouted at their opposition counterparts for not having participated in this with patriotic fervour.

Backbenchers Club president Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar (BN-Larut) led the commemoration of Independence at the start of proceedings.

He read a speech about the 50th anniversary of Merdeka before imitating founding father Tunku Abul Rahman’s declaration of ‘Merdeka’ in 1957 at Stadium Merdeka.

Not long afterwards, Mohd Said Yusof (BN-Jasin) labelled DAP MP “traitors” for not having joined in.

Parliamentary Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang, who rose to defend his colleagues, stressed that they would have joined in, had they been given prior notice about the plan.

"It happened without notice. We were caught by surprise as we did not know what was happening," he said.

His explanation only fuelled a commotion between Mohd Said, Badruddin Amirulddin (BN-Jerai), Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) and Mohd Aziz (BN-SRi Gading) on one side and DAP MPs on the other.

Lim then chipped in: “This is out of order. We want to protest. They are demeaning and cheapening the 50th independence celebration. They have to withdraw their accusation. This is a baseless accusation!”

Speaker Ramli Ngah Talib was ignored when he ordered an end to the spat, which instead developed into a free for all.

Mohd Said: Let's hope that our students do not follow the example shown by them (DAP MPs).

Badruddin: If they do, Malaysia will be doomed.

Lim: He (Mohd Said) has to withdraw his statement that we are not patriotic. It is a baseless accusation.

Jasin: I will not withdraw it. Siapa makan cili dialah yang akan rasa pedas (a Malay proverb referring to the guilty).

Chong Eng (DAP-Bukit Mertajam): We should not let this happen in Parliament, Tan Sri (Speaker). His (Mohd Said) words are very contentious.

Mohd Said: We too didn’t receive any notice. But because we are patriotic, we responded.

In a bid to restore calm, Ramli ruled that "what was said by Mohd Said does not necessarily mean that the opposition MPs are unpatriotic", but it did not appease the DAP.

Kulasegaran (DAP-Ipoh Barat): How long more you want to do this, Tan Sri? Why one rule for us and one rule for them?

'Follow procedures'

Met in the lobby later, Lim was still upset about the incident.

"They (BN MPs) have demeaned, cheapened and degraded Parliament," he said, adding that Raja Ahmad's move to read a speech from a prepared text shows that this had been planned ahead.

"We would have agreed if we had been given prior notice. Why must they spring this on us (and take us by) surprise?"

Lim noted that procedures have to be followed for everything done in the House.

"They should have moved a motion, debated it and obtained the consent of all the MPs first."

Instead, he added, they tried to exploit the situation for the sake of political propaganda.

This goes to show how narrow minded and childish
our government parties are.

I mean, they should have issue some notice prior to whatever
stupid stuff they were about to scream on like a bunch of morons....right?

And i thought the Parliament was suppose to be a sacred place to discuss on stuffs
that matters to the people. Hello, in case they haven't got the notice,
they should be sacked or kick out.

Geez... Our country. Tsk... Tsk...