Sarawak DUN suspends DAP’s Chong Chieng Jen over offensive language, unverified claims in Budget debate

KUCHING, Oct 16 — Chong Chieng Jen (DAP-Padungan) has been suspended for the remainder of the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting for misleading the House and making unsubstantiated allegations while debating the 2027 Sarawak Budget.

Transport Minister and Senadin assemblyman Datuk Seri Lee Kim Shin yesterday moved the motion to suspend Chong, which was passed with 62 votes in favour, one against and one abstention.

DUN Speaker Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohd Asfia Awang Nassar announced that the suspension took effect immediately and would remain in force until the sitting concludes on October 21.

Chong was absent during the tabling of the motion because he was in Parliament.

Lee said Chong had persistently used and repeated information and allegations which he had not verified or could not justify when asked by the Speaker to provide supporting evidence or justification.

He said the DAP Sarawak chairman had used offensive and insulting language against members of the House, and had imputed improper motives to other members or made statements or allegations which the said member was not prepared to substantiate.

“Every member of this House has the right to speak, to question, to disagree and to scrutinise the government. These are essential features of parliamentary democracy, and they must be respected.

“Those rights, however, carry responsibilities. Every member must observe the Standing Orders, respect the authority of the Chair, and exercise care in making statements and allegations in this House,” he said.

Lee said the motion refers to a statement made by Chong who uttered “And more importantly if such basic pagination of the document, that can such a serious error, what confidence do we have in the more detailed figures in the document budget?” recorded at page 15 of the unedited Hansard on October 13, which was alleged to have deliberately misled the House.

“It also concerns the Honourable Member’s conduct during the Budget debate on October 14, which we can find in yesterday’s Hansard from page 35 to page 44, particularly, I quote here: “So Tuan Speaker, you have wasted a lot of my time. I know you’re in control of this, please be fair to me.” as stated on page 38, including the reputation of information and allegations whose truth or accuracy he could not justify when called upon by the chair.

“The use of offensive and insulting language about members at page 40 of yesterday’s unedited Hansard, and I quote: “Kota Sentosa is hallucinating. He thought, you know, something criminal is being committed and the imputation of improper motives without substantiation,” he said.

Before putting the motion to a vote following a debate by members of the august House, Asfia said Chong’s speeches on October 13 and 14, as recorded in the Hansard, had flagrantly violated the Standing Orders.

He cited Standing Orders 32(4), 32(6), 32(10)(d) and 32(12), which cover the use of language deemed out of order, imputations of improper motives or unsubstantiated allegations against other members, the use of unverified information, and statements that deliberately mislead the House.

Quoting Standing Order 32(6), Asfia said no member could impute improper motives to another member or make any statement or allegation that he was not prepared to substantiate.

He also referred to Standing Order 32(10)(d), which prohibits members from using information, allegations or comments from any source, including newspapers, online newspapers, social media and other online platforms, if their truthfulness or accuracy could not be verified.

Asfia further cited Standing Order 32(12), which provides that any member who deliberately misleads the House is deemed to be out of order or in contempt.

He also invoked Standing Order 40(10), which states that nothing in the Standing Orders deprives the House of the power to proceed against any member in accordance with a resolution of the House.

During his State Budget debate on October 14, Chong had questioned the RM300 million lease of a pre-owned jet by the state government, alleging a lack of proper procurement procedures and a possible conflict of interest. — The Borneo Post