Today (16 July 2018) is the first day of parliament and we all know what went down after just a few minutes into the swearing-in ceremony!
If you don’t, here’s a quick recap:
Earlier, several MPs from Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) were seen leaving the hall during the swearing-in ceremony of Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof, who was the sole-nomination for the speaker. The walkout was reportedly in protest of Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) alleged failure to give a two weeks’ notice of the speaker’s nomination.
Source: Twitter
However, former Youth Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, former Puteri Umno Chief Datuk Mas Ermieyati Shamsudin and Umno member Anifah Aman decided to remain seated as a majority of their party members walked out of the hall. #Respek
Source: Twitter
Despite the protest, the ceremony went on and Ariff was sworn-in as the speaker. After the ceremony, the press managed to get KJ’s rationale for remaining seated during the protest. The Malay Mail reported that even though KJ was frustrated over the same issue, he actually insisted that a walkout “is not the way to protest”.
He was quoted as saying,
“It is better to respect the ceremony and not do anything that can tarnish the BN image.”
Source: The Malay Mail
He also stressed that it was his personal decision not to join the walkout and said: “I can only speak for myself.” He added that his members should have protested tomorrow (17 July 2018) during the opening and possibly by “raising a point of order” during the parliament sitting on Wednesday (18 July 2018). Good point, KJ!
Say whatever you want about KJ but you can’t deny that it was very brave of him, Anifah and Ermieyati to take a stand against their own friends in this issue. As Dumbledore once said, “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends”.
On the other hand, we do hope that the ministers of BN and PAS will solve the issue they have with the current government so they can begin the parliament debates soon.
Do you agree with KJ’s statement? Let us know in the comments!
Also read: KJ Remains Seated After BN & PAS Members Walk Out on First Day of New Parliament
