KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof (pix) has dismissed claims that his son’s working relationship with Lim Guan Eng influenced his decision on a motion tabled against the Finance Minister.
He pointed out that his son Lutfi Hakim was already 32-years-old and was free to work with anyone he wanted.
“What’s important is that I act impartially and am not influenced by any person,” he said.
He was responding to claims from several quarters, including Tan Sri Annuar Musa (BN-Ketereh), that there was a conflict of interest given that his son Lutfi Hakim was press secretary to Lim.
On Monday, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob tabled a motion to refer Lim to the Rights and Privileges Committee for misleading the House by alleging that the previous government had “robbed” the Goods and Services Tax (GST) refund account of RM19 billion.
On Wednesday, Mohamad Ariff claimed there was no ground to refer the minister to the committee and hence rejected the motion.
In his defence, Mohamad Ariff said his son and Lim’s working relationship had no influence on his decisions in the House.
“If you don’t agree, it’s okay. But I would like to stress that I will try my best to act independently, and if this is not the case, please advise me,” he added.
Mohamad Ariff said the opposition could still submit another motion to debate the issue of Lim in the next parliamentary session slated for October to December, after rejecting a fresh motion filed by Ismail yesterday evening.
“I only received your (Ismail) notice at 6.30pm yesterday, outside the permitted period. There’s not enough time today,” he said, noting that yesterday was the final day of the current parliamentary session.
On a call that he recuse himself in the debate of the motion in the next session, should it be allowed, Mohamad Ariff said the opposition could file a separate motion if they felt he was being biased.
