No excuse to close Parliament in April once MPs vaccinated - Kit Siang

 

The Perikatan Nasional (PN) government has no excuse not to convene Parliament by the end of April, said Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang.

The DAP veteran said this as all MPs are supposed to have been vaccinated against Covid-19 by then.

"There be no reason for continuing to shut down Parliament.

"Parliament can refuse admission to MPs who have not been vaccinated.

"It is ridiculous and a national and international disgrace if various sectors of national life and the economy could reopen but not Parliament," he said.

MPs are included under phase one of the Covid-19 vaccination programme.

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah has said Parliament can convene during the emergency, but he would not call for a sitting unless advised to do so by the prime minister.

Lim said that as Parliament should convene in April, the government should also suspend controversial emergency ordinances such as on fake news, and raising penalties for breach of Covid-19 SOPs.

"Let Parliament at the end of April decide whether the emergency ordinances should be turned into law or abandoned, reflecting the mandate of the people," he said.

De facto Law Minister Takiyuddin Hassan has said that the sitting of Parliament was being delayed until after the emergency ends on Aug 1, so that the government could focus on the Covid-19 pandemic.

Takiyuddin also argued that 100 MPs were in the high-risk Covid-19 group due to their age.

Umno's Pontian MP Ahmad Maslan, however, said this did not make sense as 120 MPs were below 60, and that the quorum for the Dewan Rakyat was just 26.

Critics claim that the PN government does not have a majority in Parliament despite securing three defections from PKR. - Mkini