MPs of the opposition challenge whether Jeffrey missed quarantine

MALAYSIA, KUALA LUMPUR-  Many opposition MPs interrupted the Dewan Rakyat proceedings today to challenge whether, upon arriving from Sabah to attend Parliament, Jeffrey Kitingan (STAR-Keningau) had undergone the required 14-day quarantine.

Fahmi Fadzil (PH-Lembah Pantai) stood up to ask Azalina Othman Said, deputy speaker, whether Jeffrey, who is also Sabah’s deputy chief minister, should still be under quarantine.

Mohd Azis Jamman (Warisan-Sepanggar) then said that on Nov 12, Jeffrey had attended the Sabah state assembly, which would mean that the mandatory quarantine order had yet to be completed.

We Sabah MPs have always abided by the rules. We were quarantined for 14 days when we came to the peninsula. It’s been almost two months since I saw my wife and kids because, Azis said, I couldn’t go back to Sabah.

Azalina said she could not provide a reply and instructed the secretary of Dewan Rakyat to obtain confirmation of the matter and told the opposition MPs to wait a while.

At that point, Dr. Kelvin Yii (PH-Bandar Kuching) asked Azalina to consider asking Jeffrey to take the house off quickly while keeping up for the affirmation, saying that being safe” was fair.

Azalina definitely confirmed that she was unable to particularly do for all intents and purposes asked the MPs to definitely wait for clarification.

Then Teo Nie Ching (PH-Kulai) asked the deputy speaker why she could not get Jeffrey to confirm if, because he was in the Dewan, he had completed the quarantine time.

At that point, he literally said he was teaching Jeffrey to really take the corridor off until the health ministry clarifies the matter.

In the meantime, Chan Foong Hin (PH-Kota Kinabalu) submitted a motion to refer Jeffrey to the Committee on Rights and Privileges, alleging that he had violated the House Secretary’s instructions given on Oct. 9.