This comes after the former deputy home minister said he was the only one investigated by Bukit Aman and told to give his statement today over his speech when debating Budget 2022 in Parliament recently.
Azis, who is also the Warisan Youth chief, did not specify which part of his speech was in question, but said police wanted him to explain what he said on the grouses of Sabahans over the distribution of budget allocations.
“I was told to give a statement over matters I spoke in Parliament that touched on the rights and interests of Sabahans,” he said at a press conference at the Parliament building today.
“It is quite sad that this is being investigated. I was only voicing issues being talked about by Sabahans, particularly the budget, but my only question is why only me?
“There were other MPs who voiced the same, (such as) the Keningau MP (Jeffrey Kitingan). What he said was worse than what I said in Parliament.
“Is this because I’m an opposition MP while others are from the government, hence, they were not called?”
Sabah and Sarawak affairs minister Maximus Ongkili had previously warned MPs from the Borneo states not to “fan the fire” unnecessarily over the alleged mistreatment of the states by Putrajaya, and to focus instead on ensuring that the country continued to function effectively.
This was after Azis had raised the spectre of secession over what he called “the discriminatory treatment” of the two states by Putrajaya.
Kitingan, who is also a Sabah deputy chief minister, had also warned Putrajaya against mistreating Sabah and Sarawak, which he labelled as Malaysia’s “golden geese”.
Today, Azis demanded an explanation, saying the Dewan Rakyat was the only medium to raise the people’s issues and that an MP should be able to do so without fear of being punished.
“If MPs can be investigated for speaking up in Parliament, does that mean the government or authorities want the MPs not to speak up?
“And if there is an effort to shut the MPs up, then I feel our democratic system is going backwards. I don’t think this should happen and the government must be sensitive to this,” he said.
He said he was unsure whether charges would be brought against him but stressed that he stood by what he said and would continue to speak up on issues that were unfair, particularly on government allocations for Sabah.
Opposition colleagues Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil and Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh supported Azis.
Fahmi said he was shocked to learn of the investigation, adding that an MP should be allowed to debate matters provided they were not against any law in the Dewan Rakyat.
He said the matter, even if it was an issue, should be resolved within Parliament itself. “Leave the Dewan Rakyat alone. This is a privilege for MPs, we were elected by the people to be their voice.”
He said he will take the matter up with the parliamentary select committee to establish if the MP was obstructed from executing his duties.
“We urge the home minister and the prime minister to look into this,” he said.
Yeoh said Azis, being a former deputy home minister, knew the law before delivering his speech.
“It was clear that from his debate, he was bringing up issues of the Sepanggar people. And from conversations outside (of Parliament), there are many who are unhappy with the allocations, not just from Sabah but also from Sarawak.
“If every MP is unable to speak freely for fear of being investigated by Bukit Aman, then I fear the rakyat’s issues will not be heard if there are such filters in the Dewan Rakyat,” she said.