Malaysia Notes

KUALA LUMPUR: The Dewan Rakyat erupted in a war of words after Jerlun MP Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said that he believed Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was involved in “doing such things.”

While the House was debating the Supplementary Supply Bill yesterday, Mukhriz stood up and said the people wanted to know whether Anwar had committed sodomy as alleged by his former aide.

At that time, Gombak MP Mohamed Azmin Ali had stood up and demanded an explanation from Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar on the action by the police to arrest Anwar before the 2pm deadline given to him to turn up at the city police headquarters.

Mukhriz said the Opposition should not be raising other issues aimed at deflecting attention from the basic question.

“People want to know the truth. Was there sodomy or not? Be brave and show proof whether this incident was true or otherwise.

“The truth is that I believe Anwar had behaved in such a way,” he said.

Mukhriz was then interrupted by shouts from Pakatan Rakyat MPs for a good 15 minutes. Several demanded that he withdraw what he said.

Titiwangsa MP Dr Lo Lo Ghazali, who is from PAS, said Anwar was a victim of lies while Shah Alam MP Khalid Abd Samad, also from PAS, said Muslims were taught that an accused person was innocent until his crime was proven.

Dr Lo Lo asked for Mukhriz to withdraw what he had said about Anwar because it was qazaf (slander) and those found guilty could be whipped according to Islamic Law.

Khalid said the Opposition MPs would accept Mukhriz's arguments if they were facts.

“But Jerlun had made an open and unproven statement that he was convinced that Anwar was guilty.

“This is an irresponsible statement. Please discipline these young MPs and stop them from uttering such statements,” he added.

Meanwhile, Pasir Salak MP Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman said the Opposition practised double standards by accepting the accusations made against the Deputy Prime Minister or his wife.

Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia then put a stop to the bickering and told the MPs to keep to debating the bill.