IF anything should be cut in the July sitting of parliament, it should be the ministers’ replies, said Lim Kit Siang.

The Iskandar Puteri MP said the four days of replies from ministers should be scrapped instead of reducing the eight days allotted to the lawmakers for debate.

The traditional 12-day debate on the motion of thanks for the royal address has been slashed to eight days while the time for MPs to debate has been halved to four days in the sitting which will take 25 days.

The reduced debate time, Lim said, was most ridiculous and unacceptable.

Parliament will convene for a day on May 18 for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s royal address and the presentation of government bills for their first reading.

Debate for the traditional motion of thanks and the government bills have been pushed forward to the next sitting scheduled on July 13 to August 27.

Lim said the brief sitting allowed to the MPs showed it was more important now than ever that parliament and the judiciary be declared “essential services” which would then be permitted to hold full meetingd during times of crisis such as the  Covid-19 pandemic

“If the one-day sitting is held, then Malaysian MPs will be creating world parliamentary history as the first parliament where MPs meet but cannot speak as they are expected only to be dumb,” he said in a statement today.

Lim said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin should restore the May 18 session to a full meeting “where MPs have the opportunity to articulate the views and grievances of the people, especially during the movement control order period.

He said that at the same time, preparations should also be made for virtual proceedings.

“The Covid-19 pandemic is now widely considered more threatening than any other recent viral epidemic.

“Most believe that many more have been infected or even died than (what the official figures say).”

Lim said care must also be taken to ensure that the consequent shutdown does not destroy the economy. – May 2, 2020.