DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang has slammed Perlis Speaker Datuk Yazid Mat, for not acting impartially and staying above “the fray of party politics” in the case of Titi Tinggi Assemblyman, Yip Sun Onn.Lim (right) told reporters in Parliament today that Yip’s resignation not only signalled a breakdown in the authority of the MCA leadership — as Yip is an MCA member — but also proved “a setback for the doctrine of separation of powers and the cause of institutional integrity.”
“The Speaker must rise above the fray of party politics. Yazid said yesterday that Yip had ‘repented from his action’ and gave the assurance that ‘Barisan Nasional did not entice him to stay put as a state assemblyman with any kind of offers or promises’. “How does the Speaker know this for sure, if he stays scrupulously above the fray of politics in the Perlis State Assembly?” asked Lim.
Lim, who is the Ipoh Timur MP, asserted that the Speaker should not be involved, whether directly or indirectly, in persuading an assemblyman to withdraw his resignation.
“The Speaker’s role, upon receipt of [a] letter of resignation, is to determine if that letter was freely made, and not forged, or made under coercion that would otherwise render it void.
“Once that is determined, the Speaker’s role is that of a messenger to notify that to the Elections Commission (EC), whose duty is, under present rules, to determine if [there exists] a ‘casual vacancy’, for which a by-election has to be called within 60 days.”
Yip, who is Padang Besar MCA chairman, dropped a bombshell on Tuesday when he submitted his resignation letter to Yazid, citing unhappiness with his party’s leadership as his reason for leaving.
Since then, however, Perlis Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Md Isa Sabu and MCA leaders have been trying to coax Yip out of his drastic decision.
They have also refused to acknowledge that Yip had indeed resigned, and claimed that the latter just needed to calm down.
courtesy of Malaysian Insider
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