The Speaker should excuse himself as chairman of Parliamentary Committee of Privileges in the probe whether a senior Minister had blocked MP for Teluk Intan Nga Kor Ming from presiding over the afternoon session of Monday’s parliamentary meeting

I had said yesterday that the Parliamentary Committee of Privileges should probe whether a senior Minister had blocked the Member of Parliament for Teluk Intan, Nga Kor Ming, from presiding over the afternoon session of Monday’s parliamentary meeting.

On Tuesday, the MP for Puchong Gobind Singh Deo had challenged the Minister for International Trade and Industries Azmin Ali to admit that he was the senior minister who blocked Nga from presiding over the afternoon session of Monday’s parliamentary meeting, but Azmin avoided the subject on the ground that it was then a question-and-answer session.

The interference with the Speaker’s decision by the Executive must be regarded as a most serious matter and an unacceptable parliamentary behaviour as it affects the position and place of Parliament and a grave infringement of the doctrine of the separation of powers provided in the Constitution.

Although the Speaker, Azhar Azizan Harun had said that he changed his mind to ask the MP for Teluk Intan to chair the afternoon session of the Monday proceeding without any pressure, the question remained whether a senior minister had tried to block Kor Ming’s chairing of Parliament and whether this was unacceptable behaviour for a Senior Minister and whether it constituted a breach of -parliamentary privilege.

The matter should be probed the Parliamentary Committee of Privileges. As the Speaker is the Chaiman of the Parliamentary Committee of Privileges, Azhar should excuse himself from this probe which should be conducted by the rest of the Privileges Committee.