PARLIAMENT Returning after a six-month suspension from Parliament, PKR's Padang Serai MP N Surendran again launched an attack on the parliamentary practices and on Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia, saying the voice of the opposition is being "stifled" in the august House.

Surendran, who is also on Parliament's standing order committee, tried to raise a rare and unique question to dispute the House's meeting order for the day, in which he said almost no space is ever given for opposition motions, debates or bills.

The question was outrightly rejected by Pandikar (left) for "not fulfilling conditions" and Surendran responded that the government should "construct an effigy of a rubber stamp" to signify the function of Parliament in Malaysia.

Government affairs are almost always given priority in the Parliament, he said, unlike the House of Commons in the United Kingdom, where the opposition is given 20 days of sitting to raise their own motions and private member bills.

"Our speaker has sat for so many terms, yet there is so much he can learn from Hannah Yeoh, the Selangor state assembly speaker. She allowed an opposition motion to be debated," Surendran added.

The PKR vice-president was suspended from Parliament in November last year for saying that Pandikar was "biased" in handling matters of the House.

“Even if we are at war, we (the opposition) can’t bring a debate to the floor,” Surendran said.

Surendran also rapped the government for putting up signboards stressing the dress code required to enter the Parliament area since the beginning of this session last week.

“This is utter stupidity. Do they expect the general public who come in to watch the debates to wear a tie as well?” he asked.

He said that the government should be encouraging the people to come to Parliament and watch debates, and not discourage them instead.