Heated exchange in Parliament after Najib given more time to reply claims of misleading the House

PETALING JAYA: A heated exchange took place in the Dewan Rakyat after former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak was given more time to reply to claims of misleading the House over the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) issue.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun said it was his practice to ask for an explanation in writing.

In this situation, he said he had asked for an explanation on the issue from two parties - Najib (BN - Pekan) as well as Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

However, he said on Tuesday (March 8), Najib had asked for more time until next Wednesday for him to submit his written explanation.

“I allowed it until next Tuesday morning. So, the issue does not arise that he had defied me because I had given him until next Tuesday,” he told the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday (March 9).

On Monday (March 7), Azhar had written a letter to Najib to seek clarification on his remarks on 1MDB during last week's debate, which were said to have misled Parliament.

Azhar then asked Najib to give a reply by Wednesday (March 9) as Tony Pua (PH - Damansara) wanted the former premier to be cited to the Parliament's Rights and Privileges Committee for misleading the House.

Pua said the Pekan MP's claims that not even one cent of the rakyat's money was used to repay the debts of 1MDB and several other matters related to it were misleading.

The Damansara MP said Najib had insulted the House for defying the instructions given by the Speaker to submit his written explanation on Wednesday (March 9).

Pua said Najib had told reporters outside Parliament that he would only do so after the Johor polls.

“This clearly insults the Dewan Rakyat as he is not a candidate in the Johor election but merely a campaign supporter,” he said.

As such, Pua urged Azhar to suspend Najib.

Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim (BN - Baling) then rebutted Pua, questioning him for raising such a huge issue when he was not in the Dewan Rakyat when Najib was giving his debate on the motion of thanks on the Royal Address.

“Everyone has the right to debate but when Pekan was here, Damansara was not. So, if Jelutong wants to speak about this, it is understandable but (Damansara) was not here. So, he better not be a hero,” he said.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (PH - Port Dickson) then asked whether it was reasonable for the Speaker to give the excuse that political activities outside can overcome parliamentary priorities.

Anwar added the Speaker’s decision was not in line with the position of the Parliament.

“Tomorrow, I have a Port Dickson PKR division meeting. Can the Speaker accept this excuse? After that, there’s the (Johor state) elections,” said Anwar.

“(The decision by the Speaker) means that a trivial excuse such as politics can be considered as so crucial that it can overcome parliamentary priorities, which were set by the Speaker himself,” added Anwar.

Azhar responded by apologising and admitting that he did not take into account the matters that Anwar mentioned before he made the decision on Najib.

“I take note and thank you for the reminder. In hindsight, I did not take into account the things that you mentioned before I made the decision.

“In future, I will surely take those matters into consideration. I apologise, Yang Berhormat,” he said.