The whole nation is appalled by the new directive of Parliament to limit only 80 MPs to attend Dewan Rakyat sittings under the pretext of reducing the risks of the spread of Covid-19.
After the PN government failed to use an emergency proclamation to suspend parliamentary sittings, we now the government using the excuse of controlling Covid-19 by first limiting the daily parliamentary sitting time to four hours, and then now to limit to only 80 MPs being allow to attend parliamentary sittings in the chamber.
All these new measures being carried out under the pretext of stopping the spread of Coronavirus reflects the fear of the Muhyiddin-led government to full parliamentary sittings.
Senior MP Lim Kit Siang has repeatedly suggested that Parliament and the PN government should conduct virtual parliamentary sittings since April this year, but his suggestions fell on deaf ears.
Many countries in the world have reviewed and updated their legislative rules and framework to adapt to the present circumstances. Brazil, Finland, Latvia, South Africa, and Spain are such examples. The New Zealand House of Representatives and the UK House of Commons have formally amended parliamentary standing orders to allow for remote sittings.
The International Parliamentary Union (IPU) has urged parliaments in the world to conduct virtual parliamentary sittings to address the challenge of the covid-19 pandemic.
Since many parliaments in the world have been conducting virtual parliament since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, why can’t Malaysia follow suit? Parliament just needs to amend the parliamentary standing orders to allow virtual parliament sessions to be conducted, and in fact this can be done very quickly if there is the political will and if the PN government respects the legislative body.
Parliament is the most important institution in the country where it legislates laws and formulates policies for the country. The PN government has been using the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse to to postpone the parliamentary sitting in March/April, and now again it uses COVID-19 to reduce the sitting hours and limit the number of MPs in the chamber after its proposal of an Emergency Proclamation was rejected by the King.
I urge the Prime Minister and the PN Govt to stop undermining the function of the parliament and stop frustrating the MP’s role in the legislature body, and speed up the process of amending the parliamentary standing orders and let parliament go virtual urgently