(Tapah, Sunday): Last Monday, the Dewan Negara unanimously passed a motion demanding from me an unconditional apology and retraction of my reference to the Senate as a "rubbish-bin for political has-beens, rejects and deadwoods" and that the reference be expunged from the Hansard of the Dewan Rakyat.
In the one-hour debate in the Senate, I was also challenged to repeat outside Parliament what I had said about the Senate in the Dewan Rakyat on December 17 without the benefit of parliamentary privilege so that legal action could be instituted against me.
During the Dewan Negara debate , I was also challenged to a public debate for describing the senate as a "rubbish-bin for political has-beens, rejects and deadwoods".
I have accepted both challenges, having repeated at a media conference in Penang on Wednesday my remark that the Senate is "a rubbish-bin for political has-beens, rejects and deadwoods" as well as publicly accepting the challenge to a public debate.
Four days have passed, however, and there has been no responses from the Senate or the Senators.
I am still waiting to be sued as threatened by a Senator who issued the challenge that I repeat my statement outside Parliament without the protection of parliamentary privilege and Karpal Singh, whom I have appointed as my lawyer with instructions to accept all legal suits on my behalf, is still waiting for the legal action by the Senators.
I am also still waiting for the Senators to organise the public debate that they had challenged me to accept.
If both these challenges were just empty challenges by the Senate, with no Senator being serious about it, then the whole Senate has again made a mockery of itself.
In such a case, the Dewan Negara should pass a motion in its next meeting in March to apologise to me for making such unwarranted and frivolous attack on me in such an unprecedented manner as through a motion of urgent, definite public importance as well as apologise to the nation for staging such a sorry spectacle.
The Senate had only confirmed that it is a burdensome national irrelevance when it could waste one hour of Senate time to make unwarranted and frivolous attacks on me through an emergency motion, while being very indifferent about the economic and financial crisis which the country is facing or in diligently discharging their parliamentary duties. For instance, on Monday, they passed the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill without any debate!
I will write to the Senate President, Tan Sri Mohamad Yaacob informing him that I had accepted both challenges to repeat what I had said about the Senate in Penang without the benefit of parliamentary privilege as well as the challenge to a public debate, and that if the Senate is not serious in acting on both challenges, Dewan Negara should pass a motion in its next meeting in March to expunge its motion against me on Monday as well as formally tender an apology to me.
(28/12/97)