MPs may be tested for Covid-19 before May 18 Dewan Rakyat sitting
CORONAVIRUS | All parliamentarians may be subjected to Covid-19 testing before the one-day Parliament sitting on May 18, according to a Pakatan Harapan MP.
A team of Harapan representatives had met with Dewan Rakyat Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusoff today in Parliament...
CORONAVIRUS | All parliamentarians may be subjected to Covid-19 testing before the one-day Parliament sitting on May 18, according to a Pakatan Harapan MP.
A team of Harapan representatives had met with Dewan Rakyat Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusoff today in Parliament.
“He (Ariff) told us that all MPs will be required to do testing two days before May 18.
“They will make the arrangements for rapid testing in the Parliament compound,” the DAP MP source told Malaysiakini.
When contacted, the Dewan Rakyat Speaker’s office confirmed this, adding that that was the suggestion but it has not been finalised yet.
They hope to finalise the details by the end of this month.
The speaker’s office is also currently liaising with the Health Ministry to allow MPs from Sabah and Sarawak to be exempted from the 14-day quarantine once they return back from Kuala Lumpur.
However, another Harapan source, who also attended the meeting with the speaker, reminded that Sabah and Sarawak have their own health departments as well as their own rules regarding quarantine.
“So have to check with them also,” the source said.
Previously, the Sarawak state government had issued an order on all returning Sarawakians from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah or Labuan to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine at designated quarantine centres. Sabah had imposed a similar order.
The Parliament sitting on May 18 will be the first of the year as well as the first since the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government was formed.
Harapan has since objected to the sitting being only one day as well as the lack of a question-and-answer session.
However, PN has defended its decision, saying these are measures taken in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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