Gobind deserved what he got, says Nazri
By Chan Kok Leong (The Edge)
KUALA LUMPUR: Member of parliament Gobind Singh Deo (Puchong-DAP) deserved the punishment meted out to him today and his most serious offence was to accuse the Deputy Prime Minister of murder.
Explaining the rationale for the length of the suspension, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz said it was a fair sentence.
"This is a fair sentence for him as this is about accusing the deputy prime minister of a heinous crime. So, he must be punished for the severity of the accusation made.
"If he had made the allegation against another MP, maybe the sentence would have been lighter," said Nazri.
But the minister denied that he had discussed with Datuk Seri Najib Razak before tabling the motion.
"I went to see the Speaker and discussed this. I took the decision to table this motion because I’m the minister in charge of Parliament. I’ve every right to decide this on behalf of the government.
"It wouldn’t be fair for me to talk to Najib as this involves him personally."
He also dismissed the need for referring the Puchong MP to the Privileges and Powers Committee as the Dewan Rakyat was already aware of the offence.
"We didn’t refer him to the Committee because it happened in the House in front of many MPs," said Nazri at the Parliament lobby.
"The Select Committee is for fact-finding but the facts were already before us; there was no need to refer him."
Quick action was also necessary to not give strength to his allegations and to prevent further abuse, he added.
The question of immunity also did not arise unless Gobind was being brought to trial, said Nazri.
"The decision to suspend him was done in the House as he was being punished for the abuse of privileges in Parliament. Hence, immunity is not an issue.
"If he were to be brought to court then the question of immunity would have to be resolved first," he added.
On the opposition’s claim that Gobind should be granted immunity, Nazri said this was not the case as the suspension was due to an abuse of privileges.
The minister also disagreed with Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s suggestion that Gobind be asked to explain his statement.
"This is not a crime. This is an offence made in the House and hence it is enough for him to say something (abuse of privileges) for action to be taken. We don’t have to look at the mens rea (Gobind’s intentions for the statement).
The minister added that the first-term MP’s statement was made in bad faith as he refused to repeat the allegation outside the Dewan and chose to only do it inside the Parliament because of immunity.
"Anyway, immunity does not cover someone accusing another person of murder in the Dewan," said Nazri.
The decision to suspend Gobind is final and cannot be challenged in court.
