Malaysia's first post-general election parliament sitting on Monday, July 16, was marred by a mass walkout by opposition Members of Parliament.
Long story short:
◘ The opposition MPs were protesting against the appointment of the Speaker of Parliament.
◘ Former Court of Appeal judge Mohamad Ariff Yusof took his oath of office as the ninth Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, or Parliament.
◘ The 69-year-old was the only candidate.
◘ Mahathir Mohamad proposed the nomination of Mohamad Ariff at 10am when Parliament started.
◘ An opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) MP questioned the legitimacy of the nomination.
◘ He claimed that written notice of the proposed choice of speaker must be given 14 days in advance of the meeting, but said this was not done.
◘ More opposition MPs then objected to the proclamation, but the process of electing the Speaker continued.
◘ The opposition MPs jeered during the swearing-in.
◘ Barisan Nasional and PAS MPs then abandoned Parliament.
◘ Mahathir even taunted the group:
◘ Mahathir then called the opposition protest of the Speaker's appointment "play-acting", and that former PM Najib Razak and his BN lawmakers may now finally understand the former opposition MPs’ frustrations.
◘ The group eventually returned after Ariff was appointed to complete their own swearing-in ceremony.
◘ Najib also took up his parliamentary seat despite him facing criminal charges and his coalition's defeat.
This is a video of what happened and Mahathir's reaction:
[video width="640" height="360" mp4="https://static.mothership.sg/1/2018/07/mahathir-mps-walk-out.mp4"][/video]
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