No subjudice in tabling of EC redelineation report — Speaker

KUALA LUMPUR: The tabling of the Election Commission's redelineation report will proceed as scheduled in the Dewan Rakyat today even though it is being challenged in the courts by the Selangor and Penang state governments.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia said he did not see the tabling and debate on the report as sub-judiced to the opposition who had brought their objections regarding the EC's redelineation exercise to the courts.

“Isn't this democracy? You agree to disagree. Everyone has an opinion. That is the view of others, mine is different. When I say subjudice sometimes it is applicable to certain cases.

“If subjudice is applicable to a case like this, it means the Dewan Rakyat cannot do anything. So for me, separation of powers is let Parliament do its work, the courts do theirs, the executive theirs,” he told reporters after attending a luncheon in conjunction with Commonwealth Day at Parliament House yesterday.

Prior to this, several MPs had urged the Speaker to postpone tabling of the report pending the outcome from the courts.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is scheduled to table the report after the question and answer session ends at 11.30am (yesterday) .

It only requires a simple majority vote (112 MPs) to pass after being debated.

It will then be brought to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for His Majesty's consent to be gazetted and used in the 14th General Election.

On other matters, Pandikar Amin described the three DAP MPs who were suspended from the Dewan Rakyat sitting since Monday as unethical, as they still insisted on challenging the decision outside the house.

He said the three of them, namely Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham (DAP-Beruas), Nga Kor Ming (DAP-Taiping) and Sivakumar Varatharaju Naidu (DAP-Batu Gajah) need not be referred to the Parliamentary Rights and Privileges Committee as they had been given the opportunity to apologise before the decision was made.

He said they were in contempt of Parliament.

"They deliberately did so, abandoning their ethics as Members of Parliament to prioritise their respective political agenda.

"Because when the general public reads (the story), their supporters will say: ‘Oh, my elected representative is so brave'. They just want to win (votes) during the election, "he said.

The three MPs were suspended for 10 days after allegedly insulting Pandikar Amin and Parliament after their motion for debate on the seizure of luxury yacht “The Equanimity” on March 6 was rejected by Pandikar Amin. - Bernama