OPPOSITION leaders want Pandikar Amin Mulia to explain why he had rejected questions on 1Malaysia Development Bhd, saying the speaker shouldn’t use US Department of Justice’s suit as an excuse to stop discussion and debate in Parliament. 

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang (Gelang Patah) said Pandikar again rejected two 1MDB-related questions from by him and another four questions by Tony Pua (DAP-Petaling Jaya Utara) in the current sitting. 

“My question to ask the prime minister whether he would set up a royal commission of inquiry to investigate the 1MDB scandal was rejected on the ground that it violated Standing Order 23(1) which barred a question which is ‘likely to prejudice a case under trial’.

“I presume the speaker is referring to the US DoJ kleptocracy litigation to forfeit US$4.5 billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland. 

“How on Earth a court case in a foreign land can be used as an excuse to stop discussion and debate in Parliament on a scandal which had made Malaysia into a global kleptocracy is beyond me,” he said during a press conference at Parliament today. 

Section 23(1)(g) states that questions submitted in the Dewan Rakyat should not be prejudicial to a court case.

Lim said allowing questions on 1MDB to be asked in the Dewan Rakyat is an opportunity for Prime Minister Najib Razak to respond to serious allegations against Malaysia and repair the country’s image.

“The speaker is doing a great disservice to the prime minister and country, unless the charges of corruption and money laundering are all true.”

Pua said one of the four questions rejected by the speaker was on seeking confirmation on whether the attorney-general held a press conference in January 2016 on the RM2.6 billion deposited into Najib’s personal accounts.

“It has nothing to do with a court case. It has to do with what the A-G announced, but they don’t dare to answer. I just need a confirmation.

“This is a kangaroo Parliament with a kangaroo speaker. We are getting better at corruption because all our institutions are getting better at protecting corruption.”

Pandikar yesterday turned down an emergency motion relating to 1MDB.

Alor Star MP Gooi Hsiao Leung of PKR saw his motion, urging Najib to explain why the government does not intend to claim confiscated luxury yacht Equanimity, rejected under Section 18(7)(c) of the Standing Orders.

The RM1 billion yacht, owned by businessman Low Taek Jho, was confiscated by Indonesia on February 28.

Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali said Malaysia will not claim the yacht, as it does not own the vessel. – March 7, 2018.