Amend rules in Parliament to punish misbehaving MPs

Photo: FAIHAN GHANI/The Star

THE Seed Community for a Professional Parliament (SCPP) calls for an amendment of Dewan Rakyat Standing Order 36 to automatically refer any Member of Parliament who utters sexist, racist, treacherous, subversive and offensive expressions to the House's Privileges Committee, and impose severe penalties if found guilty.

The accusation that Opposition women MPs are “indecent” (tidak senonoh) and the use of a vulgarity twice by the Pasir Salak MP, Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (Umno), in the Dewan Rakyat on July 20, 2022, exposed not only a parliamentarian's rudeness but also the failure of Deputy Speaker Datuk Rashid Hasnon to act fairly, as well as the two-year failure of the Standing Orders Committee – chaired by Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Harun – to tighten the rules.