Opposition MPs are prepared to face a possible six-month suspension from the Dewan Rakyat for opposing the Urban Renewal Bill, which is scheduled to undergo its second reading tomorrow.
Perikatan Nasional chief whip Takiyuddin Hassan said the coalition would continue to strongly oppose the bill, demanding that it be withdrawn without debate.
“All 68 PN MPs are ready to face a six-month suspension because we are serious in opposing the bill.
“We will continue to demand that the bill be withdrawn, that it not be debated or approved tomorrow. We don’t mind being suspended from Parliament,” he told over 100 supporters at the main entrance of the Parliament building here today.
The group, comprising PN supporters and NGOs aligned with the coalition as well representatives from the Federal Territories Residents Association, had marched to the Parliament building to submit their memoranda in protest of the bill.
Takiyuddin said he was aware that the opposition bloc did not have the numbers to block the bill from being passed, but he was confident that many government MPs also opposed it.
The PAS secretary-general also said he believed public pressure would push for the bill to be withdrawn.
“If the people are already here today before the parliamentary debate on the bill, we can guarantee that more will protest this unjust bill tomorrow,” he said.
Previously, seven PKR MPs called for the second reading of the bill in the Dewan Rakyat to be postponed due to concerns over the consent threshold under the proposed law.
Ampang MP Rodziah Ismail led the MPs in calling for the bill to be reviewed and only tabled when the Dewan Rakyat convened in October.
The other MPs are Subang MP Wong Chen, Gopeng MP Tan Kar Hing, Wangsa Maju MP Zahir Hassan, Ledang MP Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, Balik Pulau MP Bakhtiar Wan Chik and Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung.
Housing and local government minister Nga Kor Ming, who tabled the bill for its first reading on Thursday, said the bill would proceed as scheduled with its subsequent readings.
