Why Move To Suspend Me Without Referring To Privileges Panel, Takiyuddin Asks

Kota Bharu MP Takiyuddin Hassan (right) said he had only asked about SOPs for enforcement agency training and cited the Rusila incident to seek clarification.

KUALA LUMPUR: PAS’s Kota Bharu MP, Takiyuddin Hassan, has questioned why his remarks linking a maritime enforcement operation to the Memali incident were not referred to the parliamentary rights and privileges committee before the government moved to suspend him.

Takiyuddin said the committee, chaired by the Dewan Rakyat speaker and comprising MPs from both sides, is the proper channel to examine such matters.

Instead, he said, the government opted for a motion under Standing Order 27(3), which allows government business to be tabled without notice.

“Why wasn’t I referred to the rights and privileges committee? Its chair is the speaker, and the members come from both sides.

“So, the intention is clearly to suspend me. Why deny me my rights in the rights and privileges committee?” he said in a press conference at the Dewan Rakyat today.

Takiyuddin said he had only asked about SOPs for enforcement agency training and cited the Rusila incident to seek clarification.

“Surely we can ask such questions in Parliament. We raise them to get explanations for the rakyat. We are not insulting anyone,” he said.

Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail is expected to table the motion seeking a six-month suspension for Takiyuddin over the remarks considered “an attempt to intimidate the public”.

Takiyuddin had alleged during the debate on the 2026 supply bill on Oct 22 that an incident involving the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) at Masjid Rusila in Marang, Terengganu, had created a “negative image” of the agency.

He claimed that 10 to 15 men in five cars had “stormed” the mosque without its permission, and questioned whether it was a repeat of the 1985 Memali incident.

Saifuddin had clarified that the matter was a misunderstanding that had been resolved by the authorities, explaining that only six MMEA personnel had stopped by the mosque to perform Asar prayers during a training exercise.

Kampung Memali, in Baling, Kedah, was the scene of a bloody police siege on the village on Nov 19, 1985, ending with 14 residents and four police officers killed.

Violence erupted when the villagers resisted the police’s attempt to arrest religious teacher and local PAS leader Ibrahim Mahmud under the Internal Security Act for deviant teachings, an allegation that was rejected by PAS.