KUALA LUMPUR — Suspended opposition lawmaker Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal has accused Parliament under the present government of treating him as a threat to the democratic process for not letting him sit in the public gallery.
The Machang MP, from Bersatu, questioned where it was stated in the Dewan Rakyat Standing Orders that a suspended lawmaker could not enter Parliament’s public gallery.
Wan Fayhsal, who was suspended from the lower house for six months starting July 18, had attempted to enter the public gallery last Friday to listen to the Prime Minister’s tabling of Budget 2025.
“As an elected MP, I have the right to know what other members of the House are saying.
“Isn’t it enough that I have been barred from sitting in the MP’s seat and from participating in debates? Why block my free movement?
“I won’t be able to speak from the public gallery. If (the Speaker) tells me to watch from television, why is it a problem if I sit and listen in the public gallery or officials’ room? What’s the difference? I still won’t be able to speak,” Wan Fayhsal said on Facebook.
He also hinted at double-standards being practiced by the present Parliament administration, citing the March 2018 case of then Gelang Patah MP Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang who, although similarly suspended for six months, was allowed to sit in the public gallery and officers’ room.
Wan Fayhsal said the unity government, which had many promises of parliamentary reform, was “more cruel” than even former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration.
Opposition MPs yesterday took up Wan Fayhsal’s issue, pressing Deputy Speaker Datuk Ramli Mohd Nor to reverse the ruling, but the latter would not, saying it had been issued by Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul.
Wan Fayhsal also posted on Facebook a copy of Johari’s letter to him, dated October 15, which states he is barred from entering the public gallery and areas where Parliament officials are working, due to his suspension.
However, Johari’s letter allows Wan Fayhsal to to follow Dewan Rakyat proceedings via livestream from other areas within the Parliament complex.
Wan Fayhsal’s suspension, which is in effect until January 18, was for speaking about an alleged poison-pen letter which depicted the Employees Provident Fund in a negative light regarding the privatisation of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) that involved its part-acquisition by a company linked to pro-Israel investment firm BlackRock Inc.
He was given the boot for six months after the majority of government MPs in the house voted in favour of a motion to suspend him, tabled by law and institutional reform minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said. – October 22, 2024