Dewan Rakyat speaker advises MPs against criticising him

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia today advised MPs against criticising him in the Dewan Rakyat or outside.

He said that doing so would degrade the position of the speaker in the eyes of the public.

Pandikar Amin said that as a speaker, he did not have any political agenda but the responsibility to maintain the integrity of Parliament.

"The ruling party and the opposition have their political agendas. If I am dragged along into their political agendas, what will become of Parliament?" he asked.

Pandikar Amin said that if the MPs understood their respective duties, they would not raise issues purely with a political agenda.

"They will serve as MPs and leave politics outside the house," he told reporters after an Iranian parliamentary delegation called on him at his official residence here. The delegation was led by MP Mohammad Mehdi Zahedi.

Pandikar Amin was asked to comment on the act of several MPs who had hurled criticism at him and questioned his decision to reject motions tabled in the house.