‘Listen only’ Parliament to silence people’s voice, say MPs

 

The Dewan Rakyat will reconvene on July 26 but only for briefings on the emergency ordinances, the vaccination programme and the National Recovery Plan. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: The special Dewan Rakyat sitting agenda which will only see parliamentarians “listen to briefings from ministers” on several issues, silences the voice of the people, say MPs.

“If a parliamentary sitting is being called just for (ministers) to give briefings for five days, just record a video and upload it to YouTube so we can watch,” former prime minister Najib Razak said in a Facebook post.

The Pekan MP said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Malay rulers had called for Parliament to reopen as soon as possible to allow debates on the National Recovery Plan (NRP) and emergency ordinances.

“It is not for us to go to Parliament to listen to briefings from ministers,” he said, questioning if the government had difficulty in understanding the call made by the King and the Malay rulers.

The special sitting from July 26 to July 29 and Aug 2 will be the first sitting since Parliament was suspended following the declaration of emergency on Jan 12.

However, it has been revealed that for the five days of the special sitting, the only agenda is for MPs to be briefed on issues pertaining to emergency ordinances, the vaccination programme, and the NRP among others.

Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman described the situation as “embarassing”.

“What is the point of Parliament if MPs who are paid tens of thousands (ringgit) only need to attend to listen to briefings from ministers?

“We’ve been under lockdown for months yet (daily) cases have now exceeded 13,000. I’m paid by the rakyat, I must bring their voice,” he said, questioning why MPs were not allowed to speak up and vote on issues.

Meanwhile, Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh and Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin also took to Twitter to vent their frustrations at the agenda released today.

“This means MPs can only ask ministers questions in Parliament from September. It must be nice to be a Perikatan Nasional (PN) minister, you don’t have to answer anyone for nine months,” Yeoh said.

Sim meanwhile listed the things MPs could not do during the sitting including asking questions, put forward motions, debate and highlight the problems of the people.

“Democracy is flourishing under the PN government,” he said sarcastically. - FMT