Motion to sack IGP likely to fail

PETALING JAYA, 18 June 2009: DAP Member of Parliament (MP) for Beruas, Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham, wants to move a motion in Parliament to sack Inspector General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Musa Hassan.

He is, however, unlikely to succeed.

The Perak DAP chief said he has listed down 14 offences committed by the police in his motion including the arbitrary arrests of politicians, activists, and members of the public during the Perak political crisis.

“I am totally disgusted and disappointed that the BN (Barisan Nasional) government especially the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein Onn, has failed to take any action against the police for numerous offences they have committed against the law…,” said Ngeh in a statement.

He said the police’s actions have violated constitutionally-guaranteed fundamental liberties.

He added that if no action was taken, the public’s respect for and confidence in the police force would continue to deteriorate.

Ngeh’s motion is, however, listed as the 35th item — one of the last ones — in the order paper for the current Dewan Rakyat sitting which ends on 30 June 2009.

“There may not be enough time for the House to reach the item,” Ngeh told The Nut Graph in a phone interview today. This means, the motion will not even get a chance to be tabled.

In a related development, Ngeh said the police recently banned DAP politicians including himself, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, and Wanita chief Chong Eng from speaking at a ceramah scheduled for 27 June 2009 in Kuala Kangsar.

“I would like to ask Hishammuddin if this is the new policy. We can only eat, but can’t speak?” questioned Ngeh, adding that the ruling was violating their freedom of speech.

He said the police issued a permit for the gathering to the organisers but only allowed local assemblyperson Leong Mee Meng (Jalong-DAP) to give a brief speech during the function.

Ngeh added that they would file an appeal to the authorities.