Surendran: I'll be back ... with a vengeance!

"I will be back, and back with a vengeance," responded a determined N Surendran, when asked what he plans to do after being slapped with six months’ suspension from Parliament on Nov 14.

The ban has done little to deter PKR’s Padang Serai MP from doing what he does best, raising public interest issues, especially those involving the minority Indian Malaysian community.

'I will continue to do whatever I have been doing before what happened to me. The only thing I cannot do is to raise issues of public interest in Parliament. They have successfully prevented me from doing that,” Surendran said.

He was speaking to Malaysiakini at a Deepavali celebration yesterday evening in Bayan Baru, hosted by Penang Deputy Chief Minister I Rashid Hasnon.

Although his ouster had only been in effect for three days, he was already planning his comeback.

"I will bombard Parliament about petitions from aggrieved citizens. There will be more emergency motions from me, more presentations on the problems that people have - whether it is the issue of stateless people with red identity cards or deaths in custody," he said.

Surendran has yet to accept the reason for his removal from the Dewan Rakyat. The motion filed by Nancy Shukri, a Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, had received the support of the 92 BN parliamentarians present.

In a dramatic move, his Pakatan Rakyat comrades boycotted the bloc voting process. Some tore up the motion papers while others crumpled it in protest of the “illegal” suspension. They also described it as conflict of interest" since the matter involved the speaker.

"It was vindictive, illegal and really aimed at silencing my voice in Parliament," Surendran said.

"They are not victimising me but victimising ordinary people, whose interests I was speaking up for. In this case, it was the temple demolition issue.”

Surendran was ejected for attempting to read out an emergency motion on the demolition of the annexe to the Sri Muneswarar Kaliyamman Temple on Jalan P Ramlee. Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia rejected this on technical grounds.

Asked if he would hold press conferences to raise issues at the Parliament lobby, since he is only allowed there, Surendran said: "There wouldn't be any point ... I can do it anywhere else.

"But what I will focus on is to use the time for more cases of people who need my help.”
Roadshows for reform

Surendran said his suspension has highlighted a major problem in Dewan Rakyat, which he has resolved to address while he is still a member of parliament.

“Parliament is a lackey and is not functioning in its role to keep democracy alive," he said.

He has therefore pledged to start a nationwide campaign to reform Parliament and restore its independence, so that it can provide adequate checks and balances.

"We must ensure that the speaker is independent. Currently, the two deputy speakers sit at BN benches and they vote. Yet, they get angry when I say the speaker is biased," he noted.

As a sign of protest, Surendran said he has refused to send questions to Parliament, as MPs do do ahead of sittings.

"This is a serious matter because Parliament has been passing all kinds of oppressive laws. It has been rotten for 50 years and I want to clean it up," he said.

Surendran was on his way to his constituency in southern Kedah when he dropped in at the Deepavali function, which drew some 2,000 people.

Also at the event were state executive councillor Dr Afif Bahardin, Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin, state assemblyperson Dr T Jayabalan and former Penang speaker Abdul Halim Hussein.