KUALA LUMPUR – Despite the numerous insults and disparaging remarks hurled against him, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul is fine absorbing insults in the lower House.
However, he told lawmakers today he drew the line at insults lobbed at government officers.
Johari’s comments come after Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee (Beluran-PN) told the speaker to remove himself due to his political allegiances when exercising his parliamentary duties.
Kiandee said this when debating the motion to suspend Wan Ahmad Fahysal Wan Ahmad Kamal (Machang-PN) for six months after he repeated allegations against an Employers Provident Fund (EPF) officer outlined in a poison pen letter.
The Beluran MP added that parliamentarians are not allowed to raise issues pertaining to the behaviour and conduct of government officers, but argued that EPF employees may not be considered civil servants.
“This motion is defective. When you sit as a speaker, you must remove your political leanings.”
This led to prolonged screams from the government aisle, with Howard Lee (Ipoh Timur-PH) and RSN Rayer (Jelutong-PH) demanding a retraction from Kiandee.
This prompted Johari to try to calm things down in the lower House and reminded Kiandee that he once sat in the speaker’s chair too.
Johari also said he is aware that insults were made against him on social media, pointing out that Perikatan Nasional chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (Pagoh-PN) himself encouraged the public to vilify the speaker.
“I sit here as a speaker, not Johari. So I can take the insults, I absorb them. But when you insult a government officer, that’s too much.” – July 18, 2024