Lau: State opposition should stop playing victim

SHAH ALAM: The state Opposition should stop claiming they are victims of unfair treatment when their motions get rejected by the Speaker's Office.
Lau Weng San (Dap-Kampung Tunku) said this is because Speaker Hannah Yeoh (Dap-Subang Jaya) had rejected motions from government back benchers as well.
"They should be complaining to the media when an emergency motion I tabled under Standing Orders 17(1) sent on Nov 7 was rejected by the Speaker as well," Lau told a press conference at the state assembly annex building.
He explained that his motion was to urge the government to adopt a zero tolerance policy on construction site fatalities, which was rejected to prioritise the passing of Selangor's Budget 2017.
Lau said he is bringing forward the motion due to the increased number of deaths in or near construction sites but he accepts the speaker's reason wholeheartedly and the Opposition should do the same.
He then questioned Sulaiman Abdul Razak's (BN-Permatang) intention of bringing forward a motion to strengthen Selangor's Syariah Courts when he failed to attend amendments to the Islamic Administration Enactment (Selangor) in May 2015.
"If Permatang was truly concerned with the Syariah Courts, why didn't he take part in the debates in 2015?" Lau asked.
On Datuk Shamsudin Lias's (BN-Sungai Burong) emergency motion to refer the Splash acquisition negotiation to the Select Committee of Competency, Accountability, and Transparency (Selcat), he said the matter has already been answered by the Mentri Besar.
Furthermore, Lau said, the motion was rejected as it was submitted to the state assembly's secretary, not to the Speaker as required.
"You have been an elected representative for 30 years, how can you make such a mistake?" he said.