ORGANISATIONS URGE GOVT TO UNLOCK PARLIAMENT, LEAVE PARTISAN BAGGAGE AT THE DOOR
28 May 2021
KUALA LUMPUR: Six organisations have urged the government to unlock Parliament and reinstate its oversight role while leaving their partisan baggage at the door given the deteriorating Covid-19 situation in Malaysia.
In order to overcome the most serious public health crisis the country has ever faced, they in a joint statement today said the government needs to engage collaboratively and in good faith.
The statement was issued by Bait Al-Amanah, Bersih 2.0, Engage Malaysia, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), Pusat Komsas and Malaysia Reform Initiative (REFORM).
"We welcome (Deputy Sepaker) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said's bold and eloquent appeal for the Parliament of Malaysia to reconvene and for MPs to work collaboratively in the battle against the COVID-19 crisis, which is consistent with the voices of many across the political divide and civil society. "The exigencies of responding to a global health pandemic were never reason enough to cripple the structures of accountable governance that are the bedrock of our constitutional democracy. As Datuk Seri Azalina succinctly lays out, measures can be put in place to address or mitigate risks, and there are international examples from which to lead," the statement read.
Yesterday, Azalina stated that the country is not moving forward in the state of emergency except for resuming Parliament session where she called for the government to hold a virtual parliament.
The six bodies said the Malaysian Government can draw from the UK Parliament's implementation of virtual and adapted physical sittings, and its new voting methods.
"If new measures require changes to the current standing orders of Parliament, this can be easily managed if all parties are in agreement.
"For example, the quorum of the Dewan Rakyat is 26 members, excluding the Chair (Standing Order 13). With cross-party consensus, only the quorum minimum of MPs needs to be present to pass any necessary amendments to its Standing Orders."
The groups also applauded Azalina for rising above and reaching across the binary system by proposing several measures for the reconvening of Parliament while ensuring to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Comments