KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 4): DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang said if convicted former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak can attend Parliament while in prison, the Home Ministry will have to explain why it barred 11 DAP MPs from attending Parliament when detained under the Internal Security Act during Operation Lalang.
In a statement on Tuesday (Oct 4), the Member of Parliament for Iskandar Puteri said that at first, 11 DAP MPs were arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) during Operation Lalang, but five DAP MPs were formally detained after the 60-day custodial detention, and they were Karpal Singh, P Patto, Tan Seng Giaw, Lim Guan Eng and himself.
Kit Siang said the 11 DAP MPs who were initially detained in October 1987 were not able to continue to attend the 1987 Budget meeting of Parliament, while the five DAP MPs formally detained after the 60-day custodial detention in Kamunting Detention Centre missed from two to five Parliamentary meetings.
“Guan Eng and I missed five parliamentary meetings from Oct 27, 1987 to June 19, 1989 as we were released in April 1989.
“Furthermore, when Guan Eng was imprisoned for a year under the Sedition Act in 1998, he was not allowed to attend Parliament.
“Why then the demand for special consideration for Najib who is in prison for corruption charges?” he said.