Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang said he will hold Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and de facto Law Minister Takiyuddin Hassan to their word that debates would be held when Parliament convenes.
“We do not want double-talk to duplicity. Let Muhyiddin and Takiyuddin deliver on their promise that there would be debate in the five-day special meeting of Parliament beginning next Monday.
“As it is, the five-day special parliamentary meeting next Monday is most extraordinary, as I don’t think there is any instance of any Parliament in the world which held a five-day special meeting of Parliament solely confined to ministerial statements.
“I am prepared to be proven wrong either by Muhyiddin or Takiyuddin,” said Lim
(above).
Takiyuddin promised yesterday that MPs would be allowed to debate during the “special” five-day Dewan Rakyat sitting set to take place on July 26, adding that Muhyiddin wrote to the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara speakers requesting for MPs to be allowed to debate and ask questions.
Critics pointed out the agenda for the Dewan Rakyat sitting outlined five days of ministerial briefings. So far, parliamentarians have not been asked to submit questions that would have occurred during a regular Dewan Rakyat sitting.
Lim suggested that each parliamentary sitting be held in the form of a debate on the ministerial statements delivered by the relevant ministers.
He said this would allow MPs to seek clarification from the minister as well as state their views on the subject of the statement, adding that the statements should be shared with MPs beforehand for a smoother debate session.
He also requested for the speaker to inform the parliamentary opposition leader how many opposition MPs were allowed to speak each day of the five-day sitting.
“As there is no Question Time, each sitting will have six hours of debate time.
"The speaker should inform the parliamentary opposition leader how many opposition MPs would be allowed to speak on each of the five days of the special meeting of Parliament so that preparations could be made beforehand,” he said.
Lim added that there should be a debate on the emergency proclamation and emergency ordinances.
PSC proceedings should be live-streamed
Meanwhile, Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy chief executive Azrul Mohd Khalib said the proceedings of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on Health, Science, and Innovation should be live-streamed for public viewing.
He said discussions and debates in the parliamentary chamber used to only be accessible through media reports and the parliamentary Hansard but can now be followed live online.
"That same approach to transparency, accountability, and public engagement should be brought to the proceedings of the PSC.
“The list of issues linked to the Covid-19 crisis is long and covers the state of Malaysia's public health system, the assessment of the government's response to Covid-19, current expenditure on health, the vaccination programme, and growing threat of variants.
“Most of these issues won't be able to be properly covered in the main chamber, but they can be discussed and scrutinised at length in the select committee meetings," he said.
He cited being able to watch webcasts of select committee hearings from the United Kingdom and Singapore and even watching New Zealand’s parliamentary select committee meetings on Facebook Live.
“Asking for the proceedings to be live-streamed for public viewing is reasonable and urgently needed.
“If the standing orders need to be amended to accommodate this, it should be done so immediately. No ifs, buts, or caveats," stressed Azrul. - Mkini
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