KUCHING, Jan 17: Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Wong Kah Woh’s reading of the Standing Order 90(2) is incorrect; therefore, he owes Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Harun and the general public an apology for his false accusations, said Puncak Borneo MP Datuk Willie Mongin.
Willie, in a statement today said he was amazed by how an opposition MP can misread a Standing Order or pretend to misread the Standing Order to mislead the public.
According to him, Wong said that Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Harun has the discretion to suspend Parliament’s Standing Orders to make the inquiry into Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Azam Baki’s shareholding public.
Wong referred to Standing Order 90(2) and said: “The Speaker is not right. He has the power to initiate the suspension of the Standing Orders by referring the same to the House for a decision pursuant to Standing Order 90(2).”
Willie, in his statement, said: “Let us read for ourselves Standing Order 90(2), which stated ‘A question, the object or effect of which may be to suspend any Standing Orders of the House, shall be proposed only either after notice given, or with the consent of Tuan Yang di-Pertua who shall immediately without debate put the question'”.
“Standing Order 90(2) clearly does not give the Speaker any discretion to suspend the Standing Orders relating to the PSC nor does it give the Speaker the right to initiate the suspension of such Standing Orders,” he said.
Willie pointed out that a Member of the House must initiate the question and only then may the Speaker put it to the House for a vote.
He said in short, 90(2) merely allows any MP to propose a rule be suspended, and certainly not for the Speaker to make such a proposal.
“It says the Speaker can allow the question be put without notice to a vote in the House. That is the extend of Standing Order 90(2). No more, no less. But Wong lacks the comprehension to interpret them properly”. ― DayakDaily
