KUCHING: DAP's Pending representative Violet Yong was ejected from the Sarawak legislature's chamber less than five minutes into its Tuesday (Oct 20) sitting over her reaction after being asked to retract words deemed unparliamentary towards another member.
Yong had called state Transport Minister Datuk Seri Lee Kim Shin a "political coward" on Monday (Oct 19) over what she claimed was his attack on her party chief, Chong Chieng Jen (PH-Padungan), who was not in the assembly.
Chong, the state DAP chairman, was suspended on Thursday (Oct 15) over breaches of the standing orders.
In today's first order of the day, Lee asked Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar to expunge the words "political coward" from the Hansard under Standing Order 23(2)(c).
Lee said the words used were offensive and constituted a personal insult.
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He had asked Yong to withdraw those words on Monday but she refused, leading to a renewed confrontation on Tuesday.
The Speaker agreed that the words used were unparliamentary, insulting and humiliating and ordered them expunged.
Yong told reporters later that expunging the words was an attempt to distort the Hansard.
"The Hansard is supposed to record the actual incidents, the actual things, whatever the members have spoken in the Dewan.
"Whatever... happen(s) in the Dewan, it should be recorded verbatim. You should not try to distort, or try to amend, or try to change (them)," she said in the state assembly's media room after being ordered to leave the chamber.
"If political coward was said, let it remain there."
Describing her ejection and the expunging of the words as "sad and disappointing", Yong said it was an attempt by the government of the day to sanitise the conduct of the state assembly
