Parliament: Anwar given a week to explain his 1Msia comments
(The Star) – The Dewan Rakyat has given Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim a week to reply to his allegation that the 1Malaysia concept was created by an Israeli-linked consultancy firm.
Deputy Speaker Datuk Ronald Kiandee gave the decision after Government and Pakatan Rakyat MPs were involved in a heated exchange concerning a motion to refer Anwar to the Parliament Rights and Privileges Committee.
The shouting match started at 11.30am after Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan (BN-Kota Belud) brought up his motion saying that the consultant-Apco Worldwide had issued a statement denying the allegations, which Anwar said was linked to the “One Israel” campaign during Ehud Barak’s administration in the 1990s.
“Anwar has clearly misled the House. Action must be taken because the Opposition will continue to use this issue in their political campaigns,” he added.
Abdul Rahman’s motion started a chain reaction of counter-arguments and demands between the MPs on the Standing Orders and this went on for more than an hour.
Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) questioned the grounds for Abdul Rahman’s motion, while Barisan MPs told him to stop wasting time.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz also joined in by saying that the Government took serious view of Anwar’s allegations and agreed that action must be taken.
At that point, Saifuddin Nasution (PKR-Machang) asked Kiandee why Abdul Rahman’s motion was allowed to be read.
“What about my own motion that the minister had lied to the House about the oil royalty payments to Kelantan? It was rejected,” he added.
Kiandee then allowed Saiffudin to read his motion to urge the House to act against Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz for lying.
Nazri promptly stood up and said that he was willing to be investigated.
Another round of arguments cropped up when Nazri uttered the Malay words “anak jantan” and “anak betina,” which prompted several female Pakatan MPs to urge Nazri to retract the words.
It was 12.30pm before Datuk Ibrahim Ali (Independent – Pasir Mas) could take his turn to give his speech.
Anwar, when speaking during the debate on the motion of thanks for the royal address in the Dewan Rakyat on March 17, had said that international communications consultancy APCO Worldwide retained by the Malaysian government was involved in a public relations campaign for a One-Israel concept in 1999 by Israel’s then prime minister Ehud Barak.
The company issued a statement the next day to deny the allegation by Anwar.
