Amanah members upset over use of acronym
KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat proceedings took a hilarious turn yesterday afternoon as Parti Amanah Negara lawmakers took offence at being called PAN instead of Amanah.
Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar squared off with Khalid Abd Samad (AmanahShah Alam) and Mohamed Hanipa Maidin (Amanah-Sepang), by saying: “Sepang,
Shah Alam kalah bertanding dalam Pas lari masuk PAN.” (Sepang and Shah Alam lost under the Pas banner and joined PAN).
The jibe did not sit well with Hanipa, who called Noh bangang (stupid).
Hanipa said under Amanah’s constitu- tion, the party’s acronym was not PAN, but Amanah.
Both Hanipa and Khalid continued to heckle Noh (BN-Tanjung Karang) over the error, saying that the acronym was Amanah, prompting Noh to say: “I will say whatever I want.
“There is nothing in the law that states if I say PAN, it is an offence. PAN is PAN!
“It is my right to call Parti Amanah Negara PAN!” he exclaimed as both Amanah parliamentarians urged him to read the word Amanah, which was displayed clearly.
The verbal exchange was peppered with political jibes, with Noh saying that the two were not amanah (trustworthy) by running from Pas, with
Khalid retorting that they left Pas to continue the good fight, while Hanipa said many had also left Umno to join Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM).
Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker Datuk Ismail Mohamed Said, who had been watching the exchanges, struck the sound block with his gavel and called for order in the house.
“That is enough. Because I have the gavel, I did not become the chair of a political forum. Because I have the gavel, I became a speaker and chair of Dewan Rakyat,” he said, drawing laughter from the representatives.
Noh then ended his winding-up speech, but not before he jibed at Hanipa and Khalid again.
Earlier, Noh said the ministry was moving to take over the Lembah
Subang 1 people’s housing project, saying that it had been poorly managed and left to rot under the Pakatan Harapan government.
He accused Datuk Mohamed Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak) of lying when he claimed that no consultations had taken place between the Federal and Selangor governments in the planning of the state’s development.
Calling it a dangerous accusation, Noh said from 2008 until last year, out of the 434 applications in Peninsular Malaysia where consultations were carried out as stipulated under Section 20A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1976, Selangor recorded the highest number at 187 projects or 43 per cent.
“How is it that the Selangor menteri besar, who is the Gombak MP, can say things like that without facts in the Dewan Rakyat?
“How can he, as the head, lie in the Dewan? The list is there. We consulted the Selangor government. How can he say otherwise?”
Noh said Azmin was giving the impression that the Federal Government was marginalising Selangor.
“I wish to tell Gombak, do not try looking for cheap publicity, as though the Federal Government is sidelining Selangor and not consulting them. The allegation by Gombak is not right.”