PN will pay heavy price for 'stealing' parliamentary democracy - VK Liew
Former de facto law minister Liew Vui Keong said the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government will have to pay a heavy price for “stealing” parliamentary democracy.
This comes after it was reported earlier today that the one-day Parliament sitting on May 18 will only have a single agenda, that is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s opening address – which ultimately slams the door shut on any no-confidence motion against the government of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
Former de facto law minister Liew Vui Keong said the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government will have to pay a heavy price for “stealing” parliamentary democracy.
This comes after it was reported earlier today that the one-day Parliament sitting on May 18 will only have a single agenda, that is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s opening address – which ultimately slams the door shut on any no-confidence motion against the government of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
“(I feel) absolute disgust. This backdoor government has stolen the people’s democratic rights to be heard at the earliest convenience of the Dewan Rakyat sitting.
“This PN-GPS (government) will have to pay a heavy price for stealing parliamentary democracy,” Liew (photo) said to Malaysiakini today.
Various Harapan lawmakers had called for the one-day sitting to be extended and Liew had submitted an emergency motion to extend it to eight days, but PN had contended that prolonging the gathering of MPs could pose a Covid-19 contagion risk.
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had also successfully filed a no-confidence motion against Muhyiddin which was accepted by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Mohamad Ariff Mohd Yusoff.
However, at that time, de facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan had stressed that only government matters would be prioritised during the one-day sitting on May 18.
In an immediate response to the new agenda today, DAP's Seputeh MP Teresa Kok had said this showed that Muhyiddin was “too worried” to have a parliamentary sitting.
"He is scared to face Harapan in Parliament and he is also afraid of the motion of no-confidence presented by Mahathir," she said.
"Malaysia has become the only country in which a new government has spent an enormous sum on an economic stimulus package to combat the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak without it being approved by Parliament.
"PN has become a government which is afraid to call for a proper Parliament sitting," she added.
Sepanggar MP Mohd Azis Jamman said the risk of Covid-19 infection should not be an excuse for limiting the Dewan Rakyat sitting, since all MPs are required to undergo Covid-19 tests on May 14 and 15.
In addition, the several state assemblies have held their sittings with precautions in place, including the Sabah state assembly, managed to hold a three-day sitting without a single assemblyperson becoming infected in the process.
The government’s reluctance to hold a full sitting would only raise more questions about the government’s legitimacy, he said.
“I propose that if the Dewan Rakyat insists on the current arrangement of just listening to the Agong’s speech, we might as well hold the Dewan Rakyat sitting through Zoom where each MP stays at home to hear the Agong speech either through live telecast or through Zoom.
“This is so not to trouble MPs especially those who come from Sabah since we not only risk contracting Covid-19 at airports and aboard aeroplanes but also the possibility of being quarantined when we return to Sabah on the following day,” he said.
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