Pandikar prepared to face Gobind in court

Written by Sharon Tan, The Edge

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia is willing to let Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo have his day in court.

"I accept the summons and I will answer it. Other than that, I wish not to comment on anything," he told the press after meeting lawmakers from Australia and South Korea in his office in parliament today.

Gobind was suspended by the Dewan Rakyat for 12 months on March 16 for insulting the speaker and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Pandikar said everyone had the right to take action against another person, hence there was no necessity for him to comment on the matter.

He said as a speaker, he had only wanted to ensure a smooth parliament sitting and if MPs could not follow orders, then there was no need for parliament to sit.

"I do not wish to see the repeat of such incident when the parliament sitting resumes on June 16," he said.

On Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh's statement that the Federal Court's decision two weeks ago in the suit brought against Perak Speaker V Sivakumar had set a precedent for Gobind's suspension to be taken up to the apex court, Pandikar said since the suit was filed last week, it was now up to the court to interpret the "precedent".

Gobind filed his suit against Pandikar in the light of Sivakumar's case. He is seeking a declaration that the suspension is null, void and of no effect.

On former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's sitting position in parliament since he was still the MP for Kepala Batas, Pandikar said the House might place Abdullah with other veteran MPs like Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (Gua Musang-BN) and Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz (Kuala Kangsar-BN).