DOMESTIC Trade and Living Costs Minister Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub said that MPs should get their facts right before making statements in the August House.
“To all MPs regardless of bloc: if you’re not sure, don’t just make accusations or allegations. Parliament is not a coffee shop. You must be responsible for everything you say,” The Star reported him as saying after an event at Mydin on Wednesday (March 15).
His remarks were in response to PAS Kuantan MP Wan Razali Wan Nor’s allegation in Dewan Rakyat that the recent Women’s March Malaysia was a pro-lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) event.
According to the Amanah deputy president, Speaker Datuk Johari Abdul had requested that Wan Razali retract his statement on Tuesday (March 14) if he is unsure about his alleged claims.
After Wan Razali backed down, the Speaker told the MPs to move on to the next topic and leave the investigations to the police.
Dang Wangi district police chief ACP Noor Dellhan Yahaya said on Monday (March 13) that the police had opened an investigation into the Women’s March Malaysia under Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 and Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1995.
Section 9 of the Peaceful Assembly Act states that an organiser must notify the officer in charge of the police district in which the assembly is to be held 10 days in advance.
Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act deals with the offence of using “any indecent, threatening, abusive or insulting words, or behaves in a threatening or insulting manner, or posts up or affixes or exhibits any indecent, threatening, abusive or insulting written paper or drawing with intent to provoke a breach of the peace”.
The march on Sunday (March 12) was organised with the goal of uniting people in a cry for justice, gender equality, and an end to all forms of discrimination against women and girls, according to a statement from the organising committee Women’s March Malaysia.
The march demanded that child marriages be outlawed as soon as possible, that the government safeguard bodily autonomy and freedom of choice, that constitutional and legislative reform be implemented to achieve gender equality, that oppressed genders be given equal political representation at all levels of government, and that decent working conditions and a living wage be guaranteed.
Meanwhile, human rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) has urged the police to examine its practise of investigating gatherings that were peaceful even when no reports were lodged. — March 15, 2023
Main photo credit: Malay Mail
