Parliament has rejected an emergency motion to debate the recent leakage in the Certificate of Legal Practice (CLP) examinations on grounds that the matter was not urgent.

House speaker, Dr Mohamed Zahir Ismail said this, despite conceding that the issue was specific and of public interest.

An emergency motion has to fulfill three requirements. It has to be urgent, specific, and be of public interest in order to be allowed for debate in the House.

"The criminal aspect of the matter is now being investigated by the police, and some kind of development has been achieved in the investigations," Zahir said in a letter to opposition member of Parliament Kerk Kim Hock.

Zahid said the Parliament did not need to debate the issue because a committee had been set up by the board to review the weaknesses in the examination system.

"Steps to improve the system will also be identified," said the veteran speaker.

The motion, requested by Kerk (DAP - Kota Melaka) yesterday, was rejected in the speaker's chambers today.

Kerk had applied for the motion on grounds that the decision to ask all 921 candidates to re-sit the examination next year was unfair as 232 had obtained passes.

The passing rate of 25.19 percent, said Kerk, indicated that the leakage although serious and needed stern action, was not overwhelming as to warrant a re-sit.

"If the leakage was widespread, naturally one would expect a significant increase in the passing rates of the overall result as well as individual papers," said Kerk.

"The decision appears to be a tactic by the Legal Profession Qualifying Board to free itself from all responsibilities for failure to do a good job," he added.

Reform board

Kerk said it was unfair to punish all the CLP candidates who have worked hard for the exams. "They are the victims, not the culprits in this scandal," he said.

He said the parties who should be punished are those who leaked and sold the exam papers and the students who bought them.

Another party that should also be dealt with is the Qualifying Board for its failure and neglect to implement the exams appropriately and with the highest integrity, he added.

Kerk said the board should work closely with the police to identify if there was a syndicate involved in such leakages in the past years.

A reform of the board is required to restore public confidence and enhance its credibility in the eyes of the world, he said.

Meanwhile, Zahid said appeals against the decision to re-sit have been received and are being reviewed by the board. A reply from the authorities could be expected soon.