KUALA LUMPUR: There were tense moments at the Parliament lobby today when two Umno MPs engaged in a shouting match near where members of the media were stationed.
Kuala Krau MP Datuk Seri Ismail Mohamed Said and his Pasir Salak counterpart Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman were calling each other names over a social media post.
Ismail alleged that Tajuddin had uploaded photographs of him, claiming that he was organising a meeting with several other party colleagues “for some reason” when in fact they were visiting his daughter who was ill.
Ismail was heard shouting and yelling names at Tajuddin when he spotted the latter in the lobby. Tajuddin immediately responded with a dare to fight.
The altercation caught the attention of members of the media who rushed to record the incident.
Several MPs, including Umno secretary-general Tan Sri Annuar Musa and Arau MP Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim attempted to intervene.
Subsequently, a security guard spoke to Ismail to try and calm him down while another held Tajuddin back as both headed towards a corridor near the lobby.
After Tajuddin disappeared from sight, Ismail explained why he was upset.
“He (Tajuddin) caused trouble with pictures of my friends visiting my daughter. He alleged that I was making a pact to support another leader. How can he do that? It’s not right,” he said.
He did not say who he meant by “another leader”.
On returning to the lobby later, Tajuddin downplayed the confrontation as a “misunderstanding between friends”.
