KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Ariff Yusuf has rejected an emergency motion to debate the Sri Maha Mariamman temple riots today.
Lembah Pantai PKR MP Fahmi Fadzil, who filed the motion on Tuesday, accepted the decision of the Speaker.
Ariff said the reason the motion was rejected is because investigations into the riots are still ongoing.
“I accept the Speaker’s reasoning because today the Home Minister and the Prime Minister have already given their ministerial statements in the Dewan on this issue,” he said.
He added that this was his main objective in filing the motion.
“When an emergency motion is debated in the lower House, the relevant minister must answer. In this context, Malaysians have already received their answers from the home minister and the prime minister,” said Fahmi.
The government had chosen to respond to the matter under Article 14(1)(i) of the Dewan Rakyat’s Standing Order, which stipulates that an explanation can be given by a minister, instead of allowing the House to debate a matter via an emergency motion brought under Article 18(1) of the Standing Order.
