BINGKOR assemblyman Datuk Jeffrey Kitingan was disappointed that he was not allowed to finish his speech during the debate at the state assembly sitting yesterday.
“I am very disappointed because they didn’t allow me to speak and present my views fully because of the disturbances,” he told press members.
Jeffrey said he noticed that they all had very closed minds.
“Every time I raise an issue and explain about the need to put things right, they become defensive and say I have ‘niat jahat’ (bad intention),” he said.
He said this was a bad reflection on the mindsets of the people who seemed to be all the time defensive.
“But when they don’t have open minds, we are not going to see any progress or development.”
“I am very disappointed. As an assemblyman I am not allowed to express the truth about problems. They are so narrow-minded. The state assembly is supposed to be more open. What is the purpose of the house? The purpose is to express the problems of the rakyat – so we need to be open, democratic and not restrictive,” said Jeffrey.
Jeffrey said he was surprised that such attitudes came from senior politicians.
“I hope I have done my duty to the people to relay problems. The benefit is for the country and the people and not for me. I did not
finish my speech…I hope in the future there will be changes towards open mindedness.”