Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Aziz has refused to apologise for stating that the judges embroiled in the 1988 judicial crisis were not sacked but had their services terminated.
He also took a swipe at veteran politician Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) and his son Gobind (DAP-Puchong).The minister claimed that Karpal had an axe to grind with him.
"He has a personal vendetta against me. That's why every time he gets the chance (he would make use of it to attack me)," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.
As for the apology, Nazri said his action to publicly correct his statement was sufficient.
"I have done my job to the public by informing the press about my mistake and therefor there is no need for me to apologise to the House," he said.
"What is most important is the public. What is most important is that I have already explained it to the public (via the press)," he added.Earlier in the Dewan Rakyat, Karpal had called for Nazri to be referred to the privileges committee. He accused the minister of lying about the issue.
On Nov 6, Nazri told the House that former Lord President Salleh Abas and other senior judges involved in the judicial crisis 20 years ago were not sacked but had their services terminated early following a recommendation by a panel.
Following this, the minister conceded making a mistake and retracted his statement.
No case against me
Meanwhile, Nazri said Speaker Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had found no 'prima facie' case against him and there was no reason for him to bow down to the demands to make an apology.
"The speaker found no element of prima facie in what I did and has not referred me to the committee of privileges so why should I apologise?" he added.
The decision not to refer Nazri to the committee of privileges had sparked an uproar in the House and led to the suspension of Gobind Singh following his outburst against the decision.Commenting on this, Nazri took a swipe at Gobind, who had earlier called the minister "the biggest coward of all" in the House.
"The father took holiday for Deepavali (referring to Karpal's suspension during the Deepavali period) and now the son is taking a Christmas holiday," he said.
The minister also said that the public should not be misled into thinking that the speaker was acting partially simply because a Pakatan Rakyat MP was suspended.
"He got suspended because he challenged the decision of the speaker. The reason why you don't see us (BN MPs) get suspended is because we don't go against the decision of the speaker," he said.
He also expressed hope that Karpal and other Pakatan MPs would respect the decision of the speaker and not pursue the matter - malaysiakini.com
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