KUALA LUMPUR: The Dewan Rakyat was in an uproar today when DAP’s Cheras Member of Parliament Tan Kok Wai was ejected from the House after going against the Deputy Speaker’s directive.
The ruckus began when Federal Territories Deputy Minister Datuk Dr J Loga Bala Mohan was wrapping up his 2018 Budget debate.
In his speech, Loga said the ministry found that there were many gambling den operators in the Cheras area which had ‘used’ Tan’s name.
“We found that many operators are using the name of Yang Berhormat Cheras because they are cronies,” he said.
This led DAP’s Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng to stand up and argue that the statement was slanderous. Lim called on Loga to repeat the statement outside the Dewan Rakyat.
Tan also interjected and called upon Deputy Speaker Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee to demand a retraction from Loga.
The situation became more tense with some BN MPs also joining the fray.
Ronald then reminded Loga to refrain from making personal references to parliamentarians.
Tan however, was dissatisfied and urged Loga to repeat what he had said outside the Dewan Rakyat.
“Take it back or I will not sit,” said Tan.
Ronald tried to regain the upper hand by reprimanding Tan and calling Loga to retract his statement.
Loga explained that he was not accusing Tan of such things but had been told of the matter by outsiders. Ronald accepted this explanation and called for the latter to continue wrapping up his Budget speech.
Tan appeared unhappy with the decision and began involved in a war of words with Ronald. This led to Ronald eventually ejecting Tan out of the Dewan Rakyat for disrupting proceedings.
Earlier in the day, Tan was almost kicked out when he accused Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor of being corrupt.
However, after an exchange of words between BN MPs and Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, Tan relented and retracted the statement.
Meanwhile, Tan said this was the first time he has been "chased out" in the seven terms that he has served as an MP.