THE situation at the Dewan Rakyat heated up yesterday with war of words on the Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy issue.
It all started when Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said (BN-Pengerang) poked fun at Nurul Izzah Anwar (PKR-Lembah Pantai) for trying to defend her father when debating the motion of thanks on the royal address during Tuesday’s sitting.
“I pity Yang Berhormat Lembah Pantai (Nurul Izzah). Of course, no child would want to admit that his or her father has committed a crime,” she said when debating the same motion yesterday.
Azalina also urged Nurul Izzah and her family to accept and respect the Federal Court’s decision to reject Anwar’s final appeal against his conviction and five-year jail sentence for sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan in 2008.
At this point, Nurul Izzah interjected and expressed her dissatisfaction, saying Azalina had purposely made a personal attack on her to watch her emotional reaction.
The war of words between the two members of Parliament (MPs) prompted the Deputy Speaker Datuk Ismail Mohamed Said to interfere and order Azalina to continue with her debate speech.
Obeying the order, Azalina went on with her debate speech, but continue to keep the heat on when she accused the opposition of practising double standards in matters concerning the judiciary and the legal system.
She also quoted Nurul Izzah as saying that those in the judiciary system had ‘sold their souls to the devil’, describing it as a very heavy allegation against the judiciary body.
Citing several cases in which the courts had made a decision in favour of the opposition, Azalina chided: “When they win, everything is okay, the judge (judiciary body) is an angel, but when they lose, everybody is a devil. This causes the people to be confused.”
Several opposition MPs, including Khalid Abdul Samad (PAS-Shah Alam) and Mohamed Hanipa Maidin (PAS-Sepang) tried to interject her speech, but being an out-spoken politician, Azalina ignored the disruption and went on challenging opposition MPs, who were also lawyers by profession, to resign from their posts if they felt that the judicial institution in the country was controlled by ‘devils’.
She also slammed the opposition for holding the #KitaLawan gathering in Kuala Lumpur, saying that: “The opposition pact controls three states … why not do it in Selangor, Penang or Kelantan?” — Bernama