Give Parliament more time for ‘life and death’ crisis, says Najib

 

Former prime minister Najib Razak in a contemplative mood last week as July began. (Najib Razak Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: The special Dewan Rakyat sitting later this month should be held for longer than five days as the Covid-19 pandemic has left the country staring at a “life and death situation”, says former prime minister Najib Razak.

He said many people had been financially affected by the pandemic and the country’s stagnant economy. The meeting, set for July 26-29 and Aug 2, would not be long enough to discuss the various issues facing the country.

“The aid to the rakyat needs to be discussed and improved, and the national recovery plan needs to be modified to fight Covid-19 more effectively so that the rakyat can be free and breathe again,” he said.

Earlier today, MPs from Umno, PKR and DAP had also said the five-day sitting was not long enough to debate various key issues such as the state of emergency, the government’s Covid-19 related expenditure and other policies.

Najib appealed to the Perikatan Nasional government to abide by the views of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Rulers’ Conference about reconvening a parliamentary meeting.

He listed several reasons that justified a longer session, saying that the PN government had admitted that it has spent beyond the 2021 budget, its own economic growth projections have not been achieved for two consecutive years, Malaysia’s Covid-19 death rate was among the highest in the world, and while other countries were on the path to recovery, Malaysia was backsliding.

He said movement restrictions had led to loss of income which have left many raising white flags to ask for food and other assistance, and questioned whether the people had the stamina to last five months of lockdown.

The Prime Minister’s Office had announced today that Muhyiddin Yassin would advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to call for a Dewan Rakyat sitting from July 26 to July 29 and on Aug 2, with the Dewan Negara (Senate) to sit from Aug 3-5.

The Dewan Rakyat last met on Dec 17. A state of emergency was declared on Jan 12 under which Parliament and all state assemblies were suspended. - FMT