KUALA LUMPUR: The opposition has condemned Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof (pix) for what they claimed as bias in his role as the Dewan Rakyat Speaker, by favouring government lawmakers.
This came after Mohamad Ariff rejected a motion to refer Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng to the Parliament’s rights and privileges committee for purportedly confusing the house when he claimed the then Barisan Nasional (BN) government had stolen money meant for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) refund.
“I’m not even sure how he became a judge before,” Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin said in a press conference in Parliament, here today.
Prior to his appointment as Speaker, Mohamad Ariff had served as a judge for the Court of Appeals and the High Court, among others, before returning to his prior legal practice, Cheang & Ariff.
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the latest decision by Mohamad Ariff was only one of many others that proved the Dewan was practising a double standard.
“Pasir Salah MP Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman was suspended for four days for criticising a minister for not answering his question despite being in the house, and Pengkalan Chepa MP Ahmad Marzuk Shaary was also booted out for using the word ‘pondan’,” he said.
“But this accusation (by Lim) of us robbing GST fund is a serious allegation. But the Speaker seems to be defending Lim and his actions,” he added.
Ismail had filed the motion against Lim on Monday after the Public Accounts Committee’s the previous administration of stealing money meant for GST refund, claiming instead that the money were used to fund management and development expenses.
