FORMER minister Yeo Bee Yin has urged her successor Khairy Jamaluddin to offer technological solutions for Dewan Rakyat to meet virtually.

Yeo, who was Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration’s energy, science, technology, environment and climate change minister, said it was baffling why Khairy had not recommended the use of technology that was being done by parliaments in other countries.

“In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, no rocket science is needed to operate parliament virtually. Zoom, Google, Microsoft and other technology companies already have existing solutions,” said Yeo, who is Bakri MP.

Portfolios in the ministry under the PH administration have now been split up and Khairy is the minister of science, technology and innovation.

Yeo said there was plenty of available technology that enabled “1,001 ways to allow Parliament to continue to function as a check-and-balance mechanism for the executive branch of power during the Covid 19 pandemic”.

“Parliament in many countries have started to operate virtually (fully or partially) not only in the developed countries like UK, Canada, Belgium, France, New Zealand and Luxembourg, but also in the developing countries like Poland, Maldives, Brazil, Angola and many others.”

Yeo said with a virtual platform, MPs need not worry about being infected.

“The coronavirus pandemic should not be an excuse for the government to delay a parliamentary sitting,” she added.

Parliament’s first sitting of the year will be on May 18. It is also the first under the Perikatan Nasional government since it ousted PH in March.

The one-day sitting will not have question and answer sessions, no motions, no debates and no voting.

The royal address by the Yang Di Pertuan Agong is the sole agenda, and government matters on financing for economic stimulus packages, which had been on the first agenda initially, has since been removed.

PH has been criticising the government for reducing the sitting to the royal address and accused Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin of trying to stave off possibilities of a no-confidence motion against him.

The opposition has repeatedly suggested the use of technology for Dewan Rakyat to meet virtually, and for a longer sitting.

“If Muhyiddin  and the PN government are confident of the majority support and not afraid to face the check-and-balance by opposition MPs, why won’t they use the many technological solutions available to allow Parliament to operate meaningfully, virtually, physically or a mix of both.

“A standing order can be amended to allow this, if needed,” Yeo said. – May 16, 2020.