KUANTAN: Seven opposition state assemblymen - five from the DAP and two from PKR - walked out of the state legislative assembly meeting today in protest against the decision of the House over the use of the word ‘bohong’ (lie) on Ketari assemblyman Young Syefura Othman.
Besides Young Syefura, four other DAP assemblymen - opposition leader Lee Chin Chen (Bilut), Chow Yu Hui (Tras), Chiong Yoke Kong (Tanah Rata) and Woo Chee Wan (Mentakab) - and two PKR assemblymen - Lee Chean Chung (Semambu) and Sim Chon Siang (Teruntum) - left the House.
Two other DAP assemblymen - Leong Yu Man (Triang) and D. Kamachee (Sabai) - were not in the House when the walkout took place.
The seven assemblymen walked out after Deputy Speaker Datuk Seri Mohamed Jaafar decided that there was no necessity for State Agriculture, Agro-based Industries and Biotechnology Committee chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Soffi Abd Razak (Benta) to retract the word ‘lie’ that he had used against Young Syefura at the assembly meeting yesterday.
“I checked the Hansard and referred to the State Legal Advisor and found that Benta had said that Ketari (Young Syefura) had not said the truth. However, after reading the following page (of the Hansard), I found that what Benta had said was not accurate because Ketari did meet with government officers.
“I feel that Benta had no intention whatsoever to say that Ketari was lying in the House and there is no necessity for Benta to retract the word ‘lie’ and this matter need not be raised again,” he said, adding that the decision was final.
Mohd Soffi had uttered the word when Young Syefura was speaking during the debate. He said he did not agree with the DAP assemblyman’s statement claiming that the opposition did not get information on state government actions, including on the floods in their constituencies.
Mohd Soffi said that based on the information and evidence he had with him, not only Young Syefura but all opposition assemblymen had met with government department and agency officers for various kinds of information, besides being able to access information on department websites.
This caused some commotion in the House and Mohamed Jaafar gave the assurance that he would look into the claim but the opposition sent a letter today through Lee Chin Chen to Speaker Datuk Seri Ishak Muhamad asking for Mohd Soffi to retract the word and apologise to Young Syefura.
They made the request in accordance with Article 36 (40) and 36 (6) of the Pahang State Legislative Assembly Regulations which state that it is an offence for a member to use rude language and that a member cannot have prejudice toward other members.
Today, Mohd Soffi, while winding up debate, tried to explain his action yesterday. This caused Young Syefura to stand up and defend her statement and claim that there were government officers who feared action against them if they met with opposition assemblymen.
Mohd Soffi and Young Syefura then exchanged statements and the situation became heated when the Benta assemblyman read out a tweet uploaded by the opposition assemblyman when floods struck Bentong in the middle of last month, claiming that she had used harsh words against the Barisan Nasional government.
After almost 20 minutes of the heated exchange, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail stood up and called for a stop, lest the exchange went on into the night. He advised the concerned parties to sort out the matter outside the House if they were still not satisfied. - Bernama
