And what a show it was when instead of Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop responding to the debate, it was his colleague from the same department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, who stood up to do battle on the issue.

Nor Mohamed had promised the Dewan Rakyat during the policy debate on the expenditure of the PM’s Department that he would respond on Tuesday to the arguments by opposition MPs on why Kelantan should be paid the royalty.

But when Nazri instead of his colleague stood up at 2.30pm to ask the Speaker permission to respond to the arguments as the issue involves legislation and law, matters which are under his purview as minister in charge of law, those who were outside the chamber trooped in.

"I rushed down from the 14th floor to see your show," Khalid Samad (PKR-Shah Alam), looking at Nazri, said as he took his seat. Barisan Nasional MPs thumped their desks in response to this remark.

Indeed Nazri, an acknowledged debater, did not disappoint those who had expected to see fireworks when he stood up. And for close to two hours he stood his ground arguing that Kelantan had no right to royalty payment as the oil extraction was done beyond the three nautical mile coastal waters.

The only help he got from his BN colleague was from Datuk Mohamed Aziz (BN-Sri Gading) who kept reminding the minister that "we all understand this already, so let’s go on to the next issue".

Insults and barbed remarks were traded as Nazri crossed swords with the likes of Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur), Salahudin Ayob (PAS-Kubang Kerian), Dr Dzulkefli Ahmad (PAS-Kuala Selangor), Mohd Yusmadi Yusoff (PKR-Balik Pulau), Saifudin Nasution Ismail (PKR-Machang), M.Kulasegaran (DAP-Ipoh Barat) and Khalid.

Tian Chua (PKR-Batu), Tony Pua (DAP-PJ Utara) and Abdul Wahid Endut (PAS-Kuala Terengganu) tried to join in but were not recognised by Nazri.

Indeed he gave as much as he received. He was called a man with a perverted mind and a perverted lawyer. Kulasegaran called him a third class lawyer. Salahuddin described Nazri as "cun" and macho but said his arguments were not.

Saifudin called him tidak amanah (untrustworthy) for his defence of the stand announced by Najib when responding to a question by Salahuddin and said that probably that was the way he was coached to say by Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail.

Nazri said he was not coached by Gani but he was convinced by Najib’s arguments why Kelantan was not entitled to the royalty and believed that the prime minister was right. As for his being "amanah" (trustworthy) or not, he leaves it to God to judge.

He said the United Nations has decided that a country’s maritime border is only 12 nautical miles from the shoreline but a country, an international entity, can claim an exclusive economic zone of 200 miles.

According to him, Kelantan is not an international entity or an international actor and a state territorial water, as defined by a 1969 emergency ordinance, is just the three nautical mile inshore.

On arguments used by Kit Siang quoting second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein as saying in the Dewan Rakyat on Nov 12, 1975 that states in Peninsular Malaysia will get the same 5% royalty as Sabah and Sarawak, he said the word "royalty" was not used.

Nazri said Razak said that while states like Kelantan and Terengganu had no right to the oil or gas extracted beyond three nautical miles of inshore waters, he conceded they too should receive the same amount as given to Sabah and Sarawak.

He said so Kelantan is to receive 5% of the value of the petrol and gas extracted from the sea adjacent to the state but not as a right.

Kit Siang said Nazri’s argument is a distortion and perversion of the Petroleum Development Act of 1974.

Dzulkefly: "By your arguments you are undermining the law itself. This is perversion of the law to the highest order. I am not a lawyer but I will not bend down to a lawyer like this. I will not take it lying down."

Nazri: "Don’t worry, I will not take you."

There were howls of protests from the opposition pews.

Dzulkefly: "I thought you are an intellectual. But I see you are easily perverted. But your mind is worse."

Nazri apologised to the former PAS research officer who obtained his Ph.D from London University’s Imperial College and said in the future he would not joke with him.

After one-and-a-half hours, Nazri seemed to convince those from across the floor that the word "royalty" was not mentioned by anyone, including former Petronas chairman and finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who was one of the framers of the Petroleum Development Act.

And it finally came down to "pay to whom" (Dzulkefly), "must be paid to state government" (Datuk Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) and "state government and nobody else because negri is government and government is negri" (Salahuddin).

"We will give to the state government but in terms of project and not cash," Nazri told the House.

Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia then said: "I understand your individual stand on the issue of wang ehsan or royalty that is paid out by Petronas but I cannot say whether the minister’s arguments are right or those across the floor are right.

"Let the rakyat decide when the time comes."