DETRACTORS has ridiculed the donning of white armbands by Perikatan Nasional (PN) MPs effective yesterday (July 15) to protest against Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul’s decision not to vacate the seats of six former Bersatu MPs as a “mental case” to running afoul of Islamic teaching.
They made their opinion heard after Padang Terap MP Nurul Amin Hamid posted a photo of him wearing a white armband alongside Kulim Bandar Baharu MP Roslan Hashim.
“Wear white armband today in the Dewan Rakyat as a sign of REFORMATI (literally, “reform is dead”) to protest the speaker’s decision of not announcing six vacant seats,” tweeted the first-term PAS lawmaker.
Pakai riben putih hari ini di Dewan Rakyat tanda ‘REFORMATI’ , protes keputusan speaker tidak mengumumkan 6 kerusi kosong pic.twitter.com/8oYs43OcHC
— nurul amin hamid (@nurulaminhamid) July 15, 2024
Recall that several MPs also recited poems slamming the speaker’s decision during Question Time yesterday (July 15).
“The white ribbon on my left arm is in protest against the ‘reformati’ movement … specifically towards Article 49A,” said Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin (PN-Masjid Tanah) who is also Wanita Bersatu’s deputy chief.
Pakai riben putih tanda protes, simbol ‘reformati’
Semua ahli Parlimen Perikatan Nasional (PN) mengenakan lilitan riben putih pada lengan kiri sebagai tanda protes terhadap keputusan Speaker Dewan Rakyat, Tan Sri Johari Abdul, berhubung kerusi disandang enam bekas wakil rakyat… pic.twitter.com/ME8QzhMzmF
— SinarHarian (@SinarOnline) July 15, 2024
In Nurul Amin’s post, a commenter has likened PN’s MPs to “mental patients” and wondered if it would be better “to wrap their entire body with a shroud (kain kapan)”.
Moreover, a bigger concern is that the practice of putting on a white armband goes against the teaching of Islam.
Some netizens also lambasted the wearing of white armband as disrespecting the Chinese community for it symbolises “death of a close family member”.
In essence, a netizen summed up the entire episode as merely a “toxic opposition policy” whereby “when an MP supports PN, such move is construed as under the individual’s own capacity as opposed to party hopping” but “when an (opposition) MP supports the government of the day, the action is regarded as reformati (reform is dead), treacherous and warrant revocation of party membership”.
His opinion was seconded by others with one cautioning against “under-estimating the power of foolish people in a large group”– July 16, 2024
