Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Karpal tells Independents to stay away for 6 months


Veteran parliamentarian Karpal Singh has suggested to newly-minted independent members of parliament to be absent from Parliament for six months to pave away for by-elections in their constituencies.

"We urge the (former) PKR MPs who became independents to step down and enable by-elections to be held in their seats for their constituents to decide once again whether they support (them)," said Karpal.

Citing Article 52 (1) of the constitution which reads that "if a member of the House of Parliament is without the leave of the House absent from every sitting of the House for a period of six months, the House may declare his seat vacant", Karpal proposed that the MPs voluntarily stay away from the assembly for the stipulated period.

"They have won under the PKR ticket so it is morally wrong for them (to resign) without getting the consent of their own constituents to be in the Dewan," he added.

Karpal was referring to four PKR MPs - Zahrain Hashim (Bayan Baru), Mohsin Fadzli Samsuri (Bagan Serai), Tan Tee Beng (Nibong Tebal) - all of whom have quit PKR - and Zulkifli Noordin (Kulim Bandar Baru), who was sacked by the party.

[More to come]

courtesy of Malaysiakini

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