Ms Indranee said she had written to the PSP to formally request that Mr Leong and the party remove the revised Facebook post and edited video put up on Thursday morning, and to post an apology on all the social media pages the video had appeared on by 10pm the same day.
Otherwise, she would have had “no choice” but to refer the matter to the Committee of Privileges, said Ms Indranee.
In parliament, Mr Leong tried to argue his case by pointing out that the PSP had removed inaccuracies about how much time was spent on clarifications. He also reiterated that Ms Indranee had misunderstood who the “sia suay” phrase in the video’s caption referred to.
“Sia suay” is a Hokkien expression to indicate embarrassment or disgrace.
The edited post had read: “In what some online commenters are calling another ‘sia suay’ moment by our NCMP Leong Mun Wai –
“Our NCMP Leong Mun Wai was informed by the deputy speaker that members were allowed to seek clarification but not debate about the ministerial statements concerning the Ridout Road incident.
“The PSP’s Leong Mun Wai & Hazel Poa Koon Koon are here to do whatever it takes to ensure that the voice of the people is heard.
“This short video is an excerpt taken from the full parliamentary session and is not to be taken as a representation of the entire discussion that took place in the House on Jul 3, 2023.”
In the House on Thursday, Mr Leong said: “We should be entitled to a different view … We should not be forced to present only the view that you want to present. This is a democratic parliament, not a rubber-stamp parliament.”
He also asked Ms Indranee to confirm if an apology was necessary if PSP took down the video, as the party did not “impugn” anyone and he was of the view there was no requirement to say sorry.
Mr Leong also proposed putting up an open letter to express their regret on the matter.
Ms Indranee said sternly that an apology was needed. “The reason is this: The parliamentary privileges, the conduct of parliament are important things. They underpin our democracy.”
She added that for a democracy to function properly, it must work on the basis that MPs and their political parties will speak truthfully to people and give accurate representations of what happened in parliament.
“Because that determines the kind of society we are and if you have a political party which has misrepresented what has happened in parliament, which is a direct strike at the values that underpin this parliament, you should apologise because it’s not the right thing to do.”