KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Harun came under fire for not allowing a motion to discuss the unexplained wealth of a senior officer in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Sivarasa Rasiah (PH-Sungai Buloh) said this after his motion to discuss the officer’s alleged 4.2 million shares in two public-listed companies was rejected.
Sivarasa said the rejection was akin to a serious dereliction of duty on the part of the Speaker, as his motion satisfied all the conditions under parliamentary standing orders.
He demanded that the Speaker review the rejection.
Azalina Othman Said, who sat as deputy speaker, said she was sympathetic over Sivarasa’s situation.
The Pengerang MP said her motions had also been rejected in the past, adding that she had no power to overturn decisions made by the Speaker.
She urged Sivarasa to write an appeal to the Speaker.
Azalina then advised the opposition to push for the parliamentary standing orders to be amended to accept motions from the opposition as part of their memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government.