KOTA KINABALU: State assemblyman for Api-Api, Christina Liew, was ordered out of the state assembly sitting yesterday after she refused to withdraw the words “cheating government” which she uttered at the assembly.
Sabah Deputy Speaker Datuk Johnny Mositun made the decision under Standing Order 53(1) after Liew declined to comply with the order to withdraw the words and to apologise to the house despite being told to do so several times.
Earlier, moments after the sitting began, Pantai Manis assemblyman Abdul Rahim Ismail rose to ask the Api-Api representative to withdraw the words “cheating government” she uttered during the debate on the Sabah State Budget 2015 on Monday.
Abdul Rahim said the Api-Api assemblyman should withdraw the words before her oral question would be answered by state Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Jainab Ahmad.
However, Liew declined and read the question which prompted Jainab to demand Liew to withdraw the words or the question would not be answered.
Liew told the assembly that there was no problem for her to apologise if the parties were disputing her credibility at the assembly over a High Court decision which linked her to a land grab scheme.
Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman then rose to tell the house that the issue of disputing the Api-Api representative’s credibility was based on a court decision.
The Deputy Speaker interjected, telling the Api-Api assemblyman that when the issue of her credibility was raised in the house, the other members did not use words that violated the assembly’s standing order and told Liew to withdraw her words.
However, she was defiant, giving Mositun no choice but to order her out of the assembly for the rest of the day. — Bernama