[UPDATED] Frustrated Pakatan lawmaker brings whole fresh chicken to Perak assembly

KUALA LUMPUR – The Perak assembly encountered an amusing and rather unusual situation today when a PKR lawmaker pulled out a whole fresh chicken during the meeting as a sarcastic “present” to Plantations, Agriculture, and Food Industry Committee chairman Razman Zakaria.

Frustrated at the increasing prices of necessities and the seemingly lackadaisical attitude by the PAS exco, Muhamad Arafat Varisai Mahamad (Hulu Kinta-PH) accused Razman of scheming against and blaming the issue on Umno Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad.

“The issue facing the public right now is the increasing prices of goods. I’ve been observing the exco responsible – the honourable Gunung Semanggol (Razman). He has no plans, he has taken no action to solve this problem or convince the public.

“So...I brought him a present,” said Muhamad Arafat as he put on a plastic glove before reaching into a bag behind him, shocking the assembly when he took out a whole fresh chicken.

Seeing his unusual antic, Chaw Kam Foon (Menglembu-PH) could not help but to snap a photo of the PKR lawmaker with the chicken, as the latter continued with his debate on the state’s supply bill.

“The receipt for this chicken is from Gunung Semanggol.

“Before December 7, the price of chicken had hit more than RM10 a kilo. After the Keluarga Malaysia Maximum Price Scheme was announced, it dropped to RM9.30,” said Muhamad Arafat as he waved the chicken about till it slipped from his hand.

A female lawmaker was also heard shouting at him to bring the chicken home and turn it into rendang.

The Hulu Kinta assemblyman then made another very serious accusation against Razman – alleging that the latter is trying to undermine and scheme against Saarani’s administration.

He revealed to the House that instead of calling wholesalers, retailers, and chicken farmers to solve the problem, the Perak PAS chief had decided to play politics and simply blame the Umno-led state government.

“For the speaker’s information, the honourable Gunung Semanggol had misled the people of Bagan Serai. He had confused them and told them that the price increase is because of the Umno administration.

“This was the role that he played. ‘If Perikatan Nasional (PN) is in power, the price can be controlled.’ He told them that he does not have the authority, and that the authority is with the menteri besar,” said Muhamad Arafat.

The political situation at the federal level and many states – where PN is the administration – is tense, following the Umno spat against Bersatu and PAS, Umno’s ally of convenience.

When Umno led an ouster against then Bersatu menteri besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu last year, PAS had taken Bersatu’s side – despite the fact that the Islamist party had already signed an agreement to form Muafakat Nasional with Umno.

As Umno was about to form a new government under Saarani, Razman and his three PAS compatriots had committed derhaka (treason) when they snubbed an invitation by Perak ruler Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah to resolve the problem.

Apparently, they had received instructions from party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang to do so.

In return, Istana Iskandariah ignored all PAS state lawmakers when the new excos under Saarani were sworn in, even though the trio had finally relented and backed the new menteri besar.

It was only later that Razman had finally been sworn in as exco. – The Vibes, December 14, 2021