Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Zahidi bin Zainul Abidin has made headlines for all the wrong reasons for his outright slanderous remarks on Veveonah Mosibin.
Although Zahidi has apologized and conveniently put the blame on his officer for feeding him ‘incorrect information’, his actions of making a false statement in the esteemed Dewan Negara can’t be left unpunished.
Worse, his actions has tarnished the reputation of Veveonah, a bright UMS student hailing from Pitas, Sabah and was seen as an act of bullying a Malaysian youth who did nothing but speak the truth!
Veveonah herself has spoken out and said that she had received a lot of negative comments and attacks on social media after the false accusations and is deeply hurt by it.
This just goes to show that Zahidi and other ministers from Perikatan Nasional have no empathy or sympathy for the Sabah people.
Furthermore, seeing that Zahidi’s statement in Parliament is protected under Article 63 of the Federal Constitution which shields him from any court proceedings, the only way to punish him is by referring him to the Senate Committee for Privileges.
That is exactly what DAP Senator Alan Ling Sie Kiong did today. The motion to refer the Deputy Minister to the Senate Committee of Privileges has been received by the office of Yang di-Pertua Dewan Negara earlier today.
Alan submitted the motion under Standing Order 26 of the Senate and refers to the answer given by Zahidi to the additional question from YB Senator Datuk Donald Peter Mojuntin on 3rd September 2020.
The Deputy Minister’s false statement which has confused and besmirched the sanctity of the Dewan Negara must be investigated and punished by the Select Committee of Privileges.
This motion must be accepted by newly elected Dewan Negara speaker, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim so that justice could be served for Veveonah. Moreover, a Dewan Negara speaker should not allow a false statement besmirch the sanctity of the House.
Or does Perikatan Nasional practices double standards in favour of their own ministers?
