Pakatan Rakyat wants warrant issued under Speaker’s name
DAP chairman and Bukit Gelugor MP, Karpal Singh wants the Speaker to issue a warrant of arrest for the leader of the group that caused a scuffle with lawmakers and tried to prevent him from entering Parliament today.
He said the guilty party should be brought to Parliament as a court of law under the House of Parliament, Privileges and Powers Act 1952 under section 9e.
Under section 9e, it is stated that any persons:
“assaulting, obstructing, or insulting any member coming to or going from the House or on account of his conduct in the House or endeavouring to compel any member by force, insult, or menace to declare himself in favour of or against any proposition or matter pending or expected to be brought before the House.”
Karpal told reporters that he had explained this to the Speaker and wants immediate action to be taken.
The DAP man said he has requested the Speaker to pass the resolution in the house today and also issue a warrant of arrest at least to those who admitted to the earlier altercation.
“We are more interested in having the resolution passed today. This is a resolution that there have been a contempt in the house in relation to what has happened just now, for those individuals to be produced in this house for punishment,” he said.
This resolution will be the first in country.
Karpal said that he wants the warrant to be produced under the name of the speaker under section 11 of the House of Parliament Privileges and Powers Act 1952.
Under section 11, it is stated;
“For the purpose of punishing any of the contempts referred to in this Act, the President, is hereby empowered, upon a resolution in that behalf of the House, to issue a warrant under his hand for the apprehension and imprisonment of any person sentenced to imprisonment or who, having been sentenced to pay a fine, fails to pay the same.”
The Bukit Gelugor MP warned that this was a dangerous precedent that has happened for the first time in this country and that it should not be allowed to happen again.
However, the motion has been dismissed by the Speaker.
