Debate on EOs will be a waste of time, says Vigneswaran

 

Former Dewan Negara president SA Vigneswaran said the special sitting of Parliament is primarily to debate the national recovery plan.

PETALING JAYA: There is no need to debate the emergency ordinances in Parliament on Monday as it would have lapsed by then, said former Dewan Negara president SA Vigneswaran.

Calling the move “highly superfluous”, the MIC president said that any debate on the ordinances would only waste the time alloted to MPs, who he said should instead be focused on helping the country recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Since the emergency ordinances will lapse and be annulled on Aug 1 (tomorrow), MPs should not be subjected to lengthy harangue when more pertinent issues affecting the nation’s current situation need to be handled,” he said in a statement.

He said that the special sitting of Parliament was held to primarily debate the national recovery plan and to handle issues relating to the pandemic, noting that it was previously decided that no motions or resolutions would be considered during this sitting.

Vigneswaran’s statement follows a rare royal rebuke on Thursday whereby the Yang di-Pertuan Agong said he was aggrieved by de facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan’s announcement in Parliament that the emergency ordinances had been revoked.

The King said the minister and Attorney-General Idrus Harun had failed to abide by his request for these ordinances to be debated in Parliament.

In response, the Prime Minister’s Office said the government’s revocation of the emergency ordinances was done in accordance with the law.

Vigneswaran also noted there is a mandatory requirement for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to act on advice, or after considering the advice of the Cabinet or the prime minister.

However, the country is now in a situation where the roles are reversed, he said.

“We are now indeed treading on uncharted waters,” he added. - FMT