PARLIAMENT | Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau) took a sarcastic swipe at Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Nga Kor Ming's comprehension skills and referred to him as “Taliban” this morning.

This transpired when the BN lawmaker was called upon to present a follow-up question to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, who was explaining the Cost of Living Aid (BSH) cash handout.

Accusing the government of making a politically motivated decision to reintroduce the cash handout of RM100 for singles in conjunction with the Semenyih by-election, Khairy then referred to the upcoming Rantau polls.

“I would like to ask the minister, because even though the government says it has no money, yet there is a supplementary bill of RM19 billion.

“Perhaps in conjunction with the Rantau by-election, there will be an announcement that BSH for singles will be raised to RM450, like during BN's time,” he added.

Following this, Nga, to laughter from the floor, appeared to seek a more specific question from the Rembau MP.

“What is your question?” asked the deputy speaker.

An irate Khairy then added more specific words to his original poser, and in the process, mocked Nga.

"Will the government in conjunction with the Rantau by-election [...] do you have a comprehension problem, Taliban?" he asked.

Read more: Nga demands apology from KJ as 'Taliban' saga spills out of Dewan Rakyat

This was in reference to the verbal jousting which erupted after Nga, in his capacity as Perak DAP chief and Teluk Intan MP, claimed that the Umno-PAS alliance would turn Malaysia into a "Taliban state".

Following Khairy's jab, Nga demanded the BN lawmaker retract his statement. The latter agreed to do so, but continued to ridicule the deputy speaker's level of comprehension.

"I retract – do you have a comprehension problem, speaker?" he said.

Nga then ticked off Khairy for "provocation" before asking the finance minister to proceed.

Responding to the Rembau MP, Lim pointed out that the supplementary bill was for last year's budget under the BN administration.

"As an experienced MP, (you should know) this is not for this year's budget, but for last year. It cannot be used for this year. I hope Rembau does his homework," he added.

Lim stressed that the government's decision was not related to elections, and any increase in BSH for singles would depend on the government's fiscal position and cabinet decision.

Yesterday, the government tabled a supplementary bill for an additional RM15.5 billion in development expenditure and RM4.13 billion for operating expenditure for Budget 2018.