By Rahmah Ghazali - Free Malaysia Today
FULL REPORT KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional wants to refer Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to the Rights and Privileges Committee over his "1Malaysia and One Israel" jibe.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz said that Anwar had failed to substantiate his allegation with sufficient proof."Permatang Pauh has confused and misled the House about Apco, and (the allegation) that the 1Malaysia idea was obtained from the One Israel concept," said Nazri.
"We have given him the opportunity to explain himself, but after a thorough investigation, he has not presented strong evidence to back his argument that 1Malaysia was taken from One Israel," he added.
Speaking at a press conference in Parliament, Nazri said the Washington-based public relations firm Apco Worlwide had also denied masterminding the 1Malaysia concept.
"The decision to refer him the Rights and Privileges Committee was also made after Apco themselves have issued a statement (denying) the matters raised by Anwar on Tuesday.
The minister said it appears as if Anwar wanted to create the impression that Apco's services were engaged by dictators around the world.
Motion to be tabled next week
Nazri said a letter referring Anwar to the committee would be submitted to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia tomorrow and a motion would be tabled next week on this as well.
If found guilty of having misled the House, the opposition leader could be slapped with a suspension.
Apart from BN representatives and the Speaker, the powerful Rights and Privileges Committee also consists of three Pakatan representatives, one from each party.
Explaining the procedure, Nazri said that he, as BN deputy chief whip, would propose a motion and open it for a debate. The opposition will also be allowed take part in the proceedings.
"Then I will do the winding-up speech and they (all the MPs) will vote. If the motion is passed, then Anwar will be referred to the committee," he said.
"Whatever decision taken will be brought back to the House and a motion will be made again, according to the recommendations by the committee.
"If the committee says, give Anwar a stern warning, then a warning it is. If the committee decides he should be suspended, then it has to be mentioned and debated and voted on.
"That's how it works - two debates, two votings," he said.
Azmin: We are not shocked
In an immediate reaction, PKR chief whip Azmin Ali said Pakatan Rakyat is not shocked that their leader could be brought before the committee.
"This also goes to show that Umno is desperate until they had to defend the Zionist regime and Apco by sacrificing Anwar.
"Anwar has given his explanation to the House and provided evidence including the agreements (signed) between Umno and this Zionist (regime). Why are they still not satisfied?" asked Azmin.
He however said that Pakatan will use the next opportunity (when the matter is brought before the House), to defend their allegations surrounding the Apco deal.
"We will defend our allegations by providing evidence so that the people know who are behind this," he said, adding that Anwar, had at no time, misled the house.
"Why is it misleading the House when he provided strong evidence to substantiate his claims?" he
said.
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