Pandikar dares Segambut MP not to be in Dewan Rakyat when he's chairing

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia said he deeply regretted Lim's attitude of not respecting the position of the Speaker who was chosen under Article 57(1)(a) of the Federal Constitution.

"If that is the stand of YB (Honourable Member) Segambut, I challenge him not to enter (the House) while I am chairing the meeting.

"I will also not respect an Honourable Member who does not respect the Constitution," he said in a statement, here, today.

During the parliamentary sitting on Oct 25, Lim was ejected from the House after a heated argument with the Speaker on the issue of the civil suit by the United States Department of Justice over 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Lim was deemed to have insulted the Speaker, causing his ejection.

Pandikar also stressed that he didn't need to apologise to the opposition lawmakers who staged a walkout from the House recently when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was tabling the 2017 Budget.

He said this was because their action was pre-planned to embarrass Najib, who is also Finance Minister, and not because they disagreed with the budget content.

The Speaker said their stance was also proven by the lawmakers involved, by carrying placards with the written words "Who is MO1?" before exiting the House.

"Based on that, the question of my apologising to the Honourable Members for purportedly asking them to leave does not arise at all because firstly, they themselves had planned the walk-out. Secondly, they had flouted Standing Order 41(1)(e)," he added.