Parliament's rights and privileges committee has recommended that Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim be suspended for claiming that a public relations firm hired by the federal government had strong links with Israel. "The privileges committee has tabled its majority report which recommended that Anwar be suspended for six months," committee member Karpal Singh, the Bukit Gelugor MP, told a press conference in the lobby of Parliament this morning.
He adds that committee's report had also called for him to be admonished for criticising the committee's credibility. The report was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat today and will be debated on Thursday. The committee, chaired by Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia, met four times before producing their majority report.
Two opposition committee members - Karpal and Subang MP R Sivarasa- excused themselves from the final meeting on Dec 3 in protest because they disagreed with the way the investigations were conducted. nwar was referred to the committee in March after he alleged that the public relations firm Apco Worldwide - the supposed mastermind of the Najib administration's 1Malaysia campaign - was involved in former Israeli president Ehud Barack's One Israel initiative.
'No due process'
During the committee hearings, Apco Worldwide Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region chief executive officer Brad Staples was asked to prepare himself to testify before the committee, but his testimony was never called. It was later decided by the majority view to only use the letter from Apco Worldwide and other documentations such as the Hansard as evidence, without need to hear from witnesses or evaluate Anwar's evidence assembled in his defence.
Meanwhile, Karpal will be admonished for questioning the committee's investigation and protest over the committee's refusal to hear evidence from Anwar or other witnesses. Previously, Karpal was reported to have questioned Pandikar's fitness to lead the committee and the qualification of fellow committee member Razali Ibrahim, who is the Muar MP. "How can they take action against me without me being present? Admonishing a professional is a serious matter," added Karpal, adding that due process was not followed.
Source : http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/150733
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