Kota Kinabalu: Discussion on the claims by the so-called Sulu Sultanate heirs on Sabah was rejected both in Parliament and in the State Assembly, Monday, amid opposition accusations that the Federal Government was taking Sabah and national sovereignty for granted.
However, both the Parliament Speaker and Deputy Speaker insisted that the matter could not be discussed due to subjudice as they were ongoing court matters.
Opposition Member of Parliament from Sabah Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (Warisan-Kota Belud) was suspended from attending the Dewan Rakyat sitting after she ignored the Speaker’s instruction and insisted to have the motion on the claims debated.
The motion, which was rejected for the third time became a hot topic to the extent of causing a war of words between several opposition MPs from Sabah and Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun and his deputy Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon.
The commotion began when Isnaraissah stood up right after the motion to postpone the election of Deputy Speaker was approved by the Dewan Rakyat.
“Mr Speaker, you have rejected my motion on Sulu Sultan three times. I just don’t understand.
“I want to ask the federal government, to what extent that we have to wait until the motion can be debated? This is a matter of national sovereignty, it is not a trivial matter.
“I call on all Sabah MPs and other MPs to rise and insist for the motion to be debated,” she said.
Ram Karpal Singh (PH-Bukit Gelugor) then stood up, saying that his motion on the seizure of Petronas assets in Azerbaijan by Sulu Sultan heirs was also rejected by Azhar, while Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub (PH-Pulai) questioned Azhar’s decision in rejecting the motion on grounds of sub judice.
Azhar then explained that the emergency motion on the seizure of Petronas assets in Azerbaijan had been approved for debate in one of Dewan Rakyat’s previous sitting and had also been explained by Minister of Economic Affairs.
“Everybody knows what happened to Petronas assets in Azerbaijan, about sub judice, I have received legal views and there are one of two ongoing proceedings on that. The Standing Order is clear and I will stick to it,” he said.
The heated argument on the matter continued to persist.
This prompted Mohd Rashid to order the sergeant-at-arms to escort the MP out of the august hall and hand down a two-day suspension on her.
Meanwhile, the Sabah State Legislative Assembly rejected a similar motion submitted by Opposition leader Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.
Speaker Datuk Kadzim M Yahya the motion was rejected based on Rule 23 (2) which requires motions to be submitted within 24 hours of the start of the session.
“As this motion was submitted at 11.25 am, which does not meet the 24-hour requirement, it is rejected according to Rule 23(2),” he said.
Mohd Shafie, who is Senallang Assemblyman and also Semporna MP, then requsted for the motion to be debated on any of the four-day assembly sitting, as it involved the issue of Sabah’s sovereignty.
“It does not have to be debated today, maybe it can be done on Thursday. This issue has been haunting us for 65 years.
“I am not recognising the Sulu Sultanate, but we have laws and I will also be bringing this to Parliament next week,” he said.
Kadzim, however, advised Mohd Shafie to raise the matter in Parliament, saying that as it involves the Federal government, the issue should be handled at the Federal level.
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