DEWAN DISPATCHES: Parliament’s great white shark - NST

DEWAN RAKYAT, Tues:

For as long as the political savvy can remember, Lim Kit Siang has been an authoritative presence in the Dewan Rakyat, an orator of sublime presentation on compelling issues of the day he wishes to hound on political rivals, or a predatory great white shark smelling blood dripping from a “wounded” Minister or MP desperately trying to cover shenanigans only the Ipoh Timur MP can sniff out.

The 67-year-old seasoned Parliamentary player of seven terms can appear to be humbled by a lucid riposte by a cool Minister or MP and smile bewitchingly (menacingly if you suddenly realise that you are the target of his sniping), or he can suddenly snarl like an attack dog, pouncing ferociously on the lapses the MP may have unwittingly exposed. Except for a brief four-year period (1999-2004) when he was “exiled” out of Parliament after losing in the 1999 general election in Tanjung, Kit, as he is fondly called by colleagues and friends, has been a paradoxical character who had injected impact and colour into the debates of august hall.

Kit’s parliamentary performances, many seasons as Opposition leader, but now deferring to PKR president Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, had been in his vintage style – articulate and authoritative when raising and stressing points but insistent, cynical, outlandish and brazen when deflecting broadsides from Barisan backbenchers, a slew of them with many axes to grind.

If there ever was a Top 10 list of best Dewan Rakyat debates, you can be sure that Kit has a couple of greatest hits in there somewhere, such is his searing influence in the business of formulating national laws and polices in the Dewan Rakyat.

Today was Kit’s turn to hold the floor in the debate on the royal address and he took a good two hours to deliver his package though a bulk of it meandered on endless interjections, clarifications, demands for rebuttals and, in the spirit of the Dewan Rakyat, a good old-fashion shouting match, all of it with BN backbenchers. Kit, who has the skill to rile up a Member of Parliament for no other reason than to rile up the person, would not have it any other way. All in all, another Lim Kit Siang vintage performance.

It was expected: the moment he stood up to begin his debate, Kit accelerated from zero to 120 in a matter of seconds, thundering on the authorities’ motive of charging blogger Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin under the Sedition Act in connection with a recent posting on Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case when the resolute blogger should have been cited for contempt of court.

[More at http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Tuesday/Frontpage/20080506193341/Article]