The five-day suspension of Teng Chang Khim (DAP-Sungai Pinang) from the Selangor legislative assembly will work out to a year in practical terms and leave only one opposition member in the House for the remaining sittings.

Speaker Onn Ismail suspended Teng with effect from yesterday for showing disrespect to the House by throwing a rule book into a waste bin.

Teng's angry reaction was to the Speaker's decision not to allow the House to debate the merits of his notice of an ordinary motion.

"My first day of suspension was yesterday. The sitting today has been cancelled so I still have four days left to serve. The next sitting, sometime in July or August, is scheduled for two days but the House usually wraps up after a day," he said when contacted today.

"Then, three days will be scheduled for the budget. It is usually rushed and finished in two days. So it's highly likely that the House will meet for another three days this year. This will mean the remaining day of my suspension will be carried forward to next year."

The current sitting has been debating the motion of thanks on the Royal address by Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.

'Rules ignored'

During the first half of yesterday's sitting, Teng had raised issues that focused on alleged corruption in the state.

However, he conceded that he lost his patience when the Speaker turned down a motion that he had submitted earlier.

"I followed the rules 26 and 27 of the Standing Order when (filing notice of) a motion on April 9 in writing within the stipulated 14-day period. The Speaker replied on April 20, rejecting it under rule 17(7)(a)," explained Teng.

"Rule 17 is for emergency motions but my motion was ordinary in nature. He had no power to refuse the motion as it should have been decided by representatives in the House. He abused his power and disregarded the rules. I raised this in my speech (yesterday)".

He claimed that, during his 30-minute speech, he had been jeered at and interrupted by Barisan Nasional representatives.

"In view of the Speaker's final decision, I had no choice but to propose that my motion be amended. I was not allowed to do so and was further antagonised by other representatives aided by the Speaker," Teng claimed.

"They said I was speaking out of topic but that was not the case. In a policy speech one can bring up anything under the sun. Allegations that I took too much time were unwarranted as, for example in Penang, there is no time limit placed on a representative (to speak)."

Duration extended

Teng said he then challenged the Speaker to respect the rules, while holding up the rule book.

"When he refused, I said there was no point in me being there since I was not allowed to speak and the rules in the book were not respected," said Teng.

As he threw the book into a bin next to him and walked out, he was given a three-day suspension. However, it was then extended by two days.

"Even with that, the Speaker did not follow procedures. The Standing Order states that the Speaker has no power to change his decision," he said.

Teng has also been referred to the Privileges Committee, chaired by the Speaker and comprising six assembly representatives. There is no opposition representative among them.

"The Parliamentary conventions state that each of the three committees in the House must include a member of the opposition," he pointed out.

The other DAP representative, Ng Suee Lin (Sekinchan), also left the chamber after Teng stormed out.

DAP Selangor has condemned Teng's suspension. Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo was reported as saying he regretted Teng's action.