IN what is believed to be the first in the Sarawak state assembly, the speaker stopped an assemblyman midway through the delivery of his debate.

Kota Sentosa assemblyman and leader of the opposition Chong Chieng Jen was only eight minutes into the 20 minutes he was allocated to speak when speaker Mohd Asfia Awang Nassar stopped the Sarawak Pakatan Harapan chief from debating on the budget after the claims he made sparked a ruckus.

Government backbenchers were screaming across the floor trying to shout him down.

The speaker cited standing order 22(11) – which empowers the speaker to terminate the debate if the speaker is of the opinion that a motion or amendment threatens the debate or is calculated to breach the standing order – to end Chong’s session.

Chong, who is federal domestic trade and consumer affairs deputy minister, protested the ruling, saying the speaker should instead use his powers to control the “rowdy” backbenchers.

The speaker, however, insisted his debate cannot go on because “the continuation of this debate give raise breaches to the standing order”.

“You have made an outrageous statement. It can’t go on,” Asfia said.

Chong retorted: “They became rowdy, (but) I get penalised.”

The Sarawak PH chief had called the state’s Budget 2020 tabled by Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg on Monday a “hot air budget”, which riled up backbenchers.

Chaos erupted when Chong likened the chief minister’s alternative financing model to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal.

He said using funds provided by Development Bank of Sarawak (DBOS) is akin to “off-budget accounting”, similar to what former prime minister Najib Razak did to allegedly steal money from 1MDB.

When speaking to reporters in the media room later, Chong said the speaker’s action was the “epitome of Gabungan Parti Sarawak’s (GPS) bullying politics” and the speaker is a “tool of the coalition to bully the minority”. – November 7, 2019.