DRAWING from his previous experience, former PKR vice-president N. Surendran has taken a ‘hypocrisy’ jab at the Pakatan Harapan (PH)-led Madani government for meting out a six-month suspension from the Dewan Rakyat yesterday (July 18) on Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal.

Recalling his own six-month suspension, the former one-term Padang Serai MP (2013-2018) contended that the Bersatu Youth chief should be referred to the Rights and Privileges Committee first given “using parliamentary majority to punish an MP is high-handed”.

“I was also suspended six months under the Najib government. Then, my fellow PH MPs objected strongly, arguing it’s oppressive,” he tweeted in a reaction to Wan Fayhsal’s suspension.

“Now in power, they’re behaving the exact same way. Why ape your former oppressors?”

While Surendran’s argument seems valid on the surface, there is a distinction to be drawn as Surendran’s suspension which took immediate effect on July 19, 2014 was meted out for insulting the then Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia of bias for not approving motions submitted by opposition MPs.

The motion to suspend him was passed without debate with only a voice vote taken. This eventually sparked a ruckus between MPs across the divide as opposition MPs - including Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who was the then opposition leader - came to his defence.

But in Wan Fayhsal’s case, the Perikatan Nasional (PN) lawmaker had brought an unverified document into the Dewan Rakyat to be used as evidence to fortify his opposition against the sale of Malaysia Airports Holding Bhd (MAHB) shares to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) which happens to be a wholly owned entity of Israel-friendly BlackRock Inc.

Moreover, Wan Fayhsal was accorded ample time to apologise but he sat on such opportunity without even attempting to prove the authenticity of the so-called poison pen letter he was referencing to when debating the Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) 2021 report on July 1.

Judging by the flow of events, if the matter did go to the Rights and Privileges Committee, it is very likely to entail a similar outcome. This was highlighted by some observant commenters to Surendran’s post on the X platform.

At the end of the day, as another learned commenter to Surendran’s post on the X platform puts it, “it’s not about the end result but rather the due diligence process” for Wan Fayhsal to prove his claims, ie by providing details of the so-called poison pen letter that was allegedly sent to him.

Meanwhile, wan Fayhsal has described his six-month suspension as “another black spot in the country’s parliamentary democracy”.

“I was not given a chance to defend myself in the House. The effect of this suspension is that I will miss the Budget 2025 discussion in the October session,” he penned om his Facebook page.

“I will never surrender! The fight must continue!” - July 19, 2024 

https://focusmalaysia.my/has-ex-pkr-veep-n-surendran-made-an-apple-orange-comparison-of-his-own-6-mth-suspension-with-wan-fayhsals/