KUALA LUMPUR: Machang member of parliament Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal will request that Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul reconsider the decision to bar him from sitting in the public gallery.
"Am I a threat to Parliament? Does my presence and appearance put pressure on the government and Parliament? Am I too dangerous to be in Parliament when I can't even say a word? I hope the speaker can respond.
"Is Machang a threat to parliamentary sovereignty and democracy?"
Wan Fayhsal, who had been suspended from the Dewan Rakyat for six months in July, was speaking to reporters in the Parliament building today.
The Perikatan Nasional MP described barring him from sitting in the public gallery as excessive.
"I don't know which regulation prevents me from entering the public gallery. I am being treated with less respect than officers to the MPs or the public who come to listen to Dewan Rakyat proceedings, despite myself being an elected MP by the people of Machang.
"I am a legitimate MP, only that I have been suspended for six months. I have been complying with the motion for my suspension and have not participated in the debate."
Wan Fayhsal cited the case of former opposition leader Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang, who was allowed to observe parliamentary proceedings from the gallery despite being suspended from the Dewan Rakyat in 2018.
He said a sergeant-at-arms prevented him from entering the Dewan Rakyat public gallery on the first day of the current session on Oct 14.
"I asked him if there was an official instruction and asked for an official written instruction, which I received the next day."
The letter states that wan Fayhsal is not allowed in the public gallery or the officers' area during his suspension.
However, he is permitted to remain within the Parliament complex and can follow the proceedings of the lower house via live broadcast.
Earlier, PN chief whip Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan (PN-Kota Baru) had asked deputy speaker Datuk Ramli Mohd Nor about the specifics of the letter.