Rafizi’s arrest: Azalina denies usurping Speaker’s power

KUALA LUMPUR: Azalina Othman Said has denied she tried to usurp the power’s of the Dewan Rakyat Speaker by saying the arrest of Rafizi Ramli (PKR-Pandan) was lawful instead of waiting for Pandikar Amin Mulia to rule on the matter first.

“No, read my statement carefully. Maybe the Opposition doesn’t understand English or Malay, I don’t know,” the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department told reporters when met at Parliament lobby today.

Azalina, however, did not give a direct answer when asked if Pandikar was agreeable to her statement yesterday and said instead, “Wait for what the Speaker has to say.”

She was responding to remarks by Anthony Loke (DAP-Seremban), who said yesterday that MPs were not bound by Azalina’s own ruling.

“Once again she’s trying to usurp the Speaker’s power. This is Parliament, not the prime minister’s building. We are not bound by her rulings,” Loke said yesterday.

On Tuesday, Rafizi was arrested around 6.15pm when exiting the Parliament compound. According to Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar, Rafizi was arrested under Section 8 of the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

This is not the first time Azalina has spoken about issues in Parliament before the Speaker had ruled on it. The MP for Pengerang was earlier warned by Pandikar against usurping his power when she jumped the gun and declared that debates on the controversial RM2.6 billion political donation was sub judice.

Mukah Pages bring you trending news media with Free Malaysia Today http://ift.tt/1Mgxiq9