EVERYONE is entitled to his own opinion but not to his own facts.

This quote by an American politician best describes what Malaysians should do when they come across an opinion by the Speaker of Dewan Rakyat Pandikar Amin Mulia.

Fresh from attending a conference for parliament and state assembly speakers yesterday, he was asked by journalists what he thought about the Sultan of Selangor’s sensible advice that state and parliament sessions should not run past midnight.

The Selangor ruler pointed out that stretching the day too long in the legislature would not be optimum for anyone.

Pandikar, who never fails to hoist his own flag of political neutrality despite being a member of the ruling coalition for decades and a former minister, blamed the opposition for Dewan Rakyat sessions that stretched way past midnight.

He said that the inability of the opposition to form a shadow cabinet meant that many opposition members stood up to speak in Parliament. They tended to be long-winded and repetitive.

If there was a shadow cabinet, only a select number of opposition members would speak on issues, he opined.

“I wonder why the opposition until today has not come up with a shadow cabinet,” said Pandikar, allowing the veil of his political “neutrality” to slip.

Of course, lengthy Parliament sessions had nothing to do with the Barisan Nasional government ambushing Parliament with stacks of new legislation and amendments.

Of course, the marathon sessions had little to do with opposition trying to elicit logical responses to stock answers provided by ministers or deputy ministers on matters of national interest.

In Pandikar’s little world, he and his deputy speaker should not be apportioned blame for the marathon sessions. It is all down to the opposition.‎

Funny that on occasion, Pandikar has been quite willing to use powers at his disposal to keep the debates moving along or shutting them down

Didn’t the Speaker act with speed and haste to end the debate on the proposed amendments to the shariah law? After allowing PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and his comrades from the Islamic party unprecedented time to sell their legislation, Pandikar suddenly shut down further debate.

Yes, everyone is entitled to his own opinion but not all opinions should be treated equally.

At the conference, the Sultan of Selangor said that a speaker has to be fair, mature, honest with vast knowledge, possess high integrity and not side with any political party, be it the ruling party or the opposition.

The ruler’s opinion is one for the ages.

Pandikar’s opinion is one for himself. – May 14, 2017.