The saga of the pepper spray canister used in the state assembly on May 7, continued today with a new twist to the story by Jelapang assemblywoman Hee Yit Foong.

hee yit foong holding device at yew tian hoe in perak state assembly dewan 070509 zoom in She is now claiming that the canister allegedly used against DAP Aulong assemblyperson Yew Tian Hoe did not belong to her.

Hee claimed that someone from the assembly sitting had thrown the canister in her direction and she had just picked it up from the floor and asked Yew whether the item belonged to him. She said that is all she did.

She denied using the pepper spray on Yew as alleged by DAP and the media.

On May 8, at a press conference, Hee had claimed that she pointed her hotel key-chain and not a pepper spray canister at Yee.

However, a close-up clip taken during the assembly did show Hee pointing what appeared to be a pepper spray canister at Yew, and not a hotel key-chain as she had claimed earlier.

Today, Hee accompanied by her lawyer, made an appearance at a press conference by Perak Menteri Besar Zambry Abd Kadir at the state secretariat in Ipoh this afternoon.

Hee had with her the standing orders of the Perak state legislative book and the disputed pepper spray canister which she had earlier claimed was her hotel key-chain.

Hee: A book was thrown at me

She claimed that Yew had thrown the book at her and showed the media that the book allegedly belonged to Yee and showed a signature allegedly that of Yee that was on the front page of the book.

She also denied using the pepper spray on Yee and added that if she had done so, Yee would not be able to see properly for at least two days but he was alright after the alleged incident at the assembly sitting.

Hee who is also the Perak assembly deputy speaker told the media that she was going to make a police report over the matter soon.

At the same media conference, Zambry defended Hee’s action in conducting a sub-assembly inside the state assembly sitting on May 7.

sivakumar being dragged abused manhandled by security unknown individual out perak state assembly chaos 070509 the best He said at the point of time when Hee conducted the sub-assembly, Perak Speaker V Sivakumar was no longer the state speaker but just an assemblyperson of Tronoh, so Hee had the authority as deputy speaker to conduct the sitting.

On May 8, Hee had also claimed that she had the authority to hold the proceedings in accordance to Article 36A(1) (b) of the state constitution.

However, the entire Article 36A makes no mention of the deputy speaker’s powers. Instead, it provides technical details such as the speaker’s renumeration and how the speaker can be disqualified if found to have commercial interests.

However, Article 36A(3) reads: “During the absence of the speaker from a sitting of the legislative assembly, such members as may be determined by the rules of procedure (standing orders) of the assembly, shall act as speaker.”

The question that begs to be answered is when Sivakumar was sitting in the speaker’s chair during the conduct of the sub-assembly, how did Hee assume the power to conduct the sub- assembly?