Will Parliament meet after two-week suspension, asks Kit Siang

 

Will Parliament reconvene after a two-week suspension due to the Covid-19 cases recorded there, asked DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang.

He said Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah proposed on Aug 1 that the special parliamentary meeting be postponed for two weeks.

As such, Lim questioned if the Dewan Rakyat will meet on Aug 16 and will the Dewan Negara meet from August 17-19 after the completion of the two-week suspension as advised by Noor Hisham.

In a statement, Lim said today was a black mark in Malaysian parliamentary history.

He said no one would have thought there would be a day when Malaysian MPs would be blocked from entering the Malaysian Parliament.

"In 1933, Hitler was suspected of burning down the German Parliament – the infamous Reichstag fire – to begin his dictatorial Nazi rule.

"Is Malaysia to have its infamous history where Parliament is locked using the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse to save the backdoor, illegitimate, and undemocratic government from being toppled in a major constitutional crisis of its own making?"

Parliament was originally supposed to be in session today but was called off due to Covid-19 cases in the area.

Noor Hisham earlier warned that a superspreader event is possible if the special parliamentary sitting was to proceed with its last day this morning.

This morning, more than 100 opposition MPs were seen marching from Dataran Merdeka towards Parliament in protest of the House's suspension. They were however met by heavy police presence blocking their way.

The opposition MPs jointly called on Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his cabinet to resign.

All opposition MPs from DAP, PKR, Amanah, Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda), Parti Pejuang Tanahair (Pejuang), Warisan, Parti Sarawak Bersatu, and Upko had come together to call for the resignation of Muhyiddin and his cabinet. - Mkini