REMINDERS ON RULES
On Tuesday, Ms Indranee said Mr Leong addressed Mr Tan in a manner that was disrespectful.
She said the Standing Orders of the Parliament set out processes for dealing with members who breach parliamentary privilege or disregard the authority of the chair. “These could have been invoked,” she said.
Ms Indranee reminded members not to make allegations that cannot be substantiated, to refrain from making statements outside of parliament that reflect on the character of the Speaker or other members that falsely or scandalously defames the proceedings or the character of parliament.
“None of these rules inhibit robust debate. Robust debate and a contest of ideas are expected,” she said.
“The rules are there to ensure the focus remains on making points of substance making false or unsubstantiated statements, or casting baseless aspersions only serve to erode trust and undermine our democracy.”
Mr Tan said he is committed to being inclusive in providing the space for debate for all 103 members in the chambers.
“But help me to help you to do so by keeping to our rules and procedures,” he said.
“I appreciate that individuals are passionate about their causes and their views. But I also hope that members show respect to the chair and importantly to your fellow members, and do not act as if your views are all that matter.
“Because if everyone decides to insist on their own way, this will become a chaotic space, like we see elsewhere,” he said.
Mr Tan added that there is a full agenda for the remainder of the 14th parliament, and he expects members to continue debating robustly.
“I believe that we can do so while at the same time observing these fairly simple and reasonable rules and importantly, to do so with decorum, courtesy and respect to each other here in this house.”