UMNO Supreme Council member and MP for Kuala Selangor Irmohizam Ibrahim is the latest UMNO leader to make a fool of himself, aggravating the critical political scenario where the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, is fighting for his political life in the forthcoming 14th General Election.

Imohizam accused DAP Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua of lying when Tony said that a private member’s bill from the Opposition had never been given a chance in Parliament.

Irmohizam said:

“This is an obvious falsehood which they try to peddle so that the rakyat will believe their every lie.

“This is because private members’ bills from the opposition have been tabled in parliament before, and it is very strange if they deny this themselves.”

Irmohizam said in 1977, three opposition private members’ bills were put forth, two by me and one by DAP’s Kinta MP Ngan Siong Hing.
Irmohizan even lambasted me for not correcting Tony Pua’s statement and claimed that this was all a part of an Opposition exercise to “trap and deceive” the people with lies and falsehoods.

I checked Tony Pua’s FaceBook posting dated April 6 which said:

“Opposition motions and bills have never made it to the House Floor for debate in the history of Malaysian Parliament (after the Standing Orders were amended in 1978) because BN controls what gets tabled, in collusion with the House Speaker.”

Tony is right. Until the Standing Orders were amended, DAP MPs including myself were submitting motions to seek leave of Parliament to move private member’s bill, which had to be debated (although invariably denied) as they occupy a higher order of priority than government business (such as government bills and motions) in the parliamentary Order of Business. Read the rest of this entry »