LAW minister Takiyuddin Hassan blamed the opposition for failing to understand legal provisions that allow three MPs under home quarantine to appear in Parliament today.

This was the same minister who criticised the opposition for protesting the one-day parliamentary sitting set for May 18, saying the opposition had failed to set the right priorities in their protest.

He had then said that the government’s decision to reconvene Dewan Rakyat only for one day was based on the Covid-19 crisis in the country. The daily new cases then from March 16 (start of the MCO) to May 18 reached a record high of 235 on March 26.

The minister asserted that the government’s decision was based on efforts to end the Covid-19 pandemic.

Parliament is now sitting and has sat since November 7, just a week after the country recorded 1, 240 daily new cases – a record high then. Since then, the country has recorded four-digit daily new cases with a record high of 2, 234 new cases on December 10.

Today, Parliament – which did not sit for more than one day on May 18 – has even allowed three MPs in the public gallery clad in personal protective equipment (PPE).

“It’s better to regulate than to allow MPs to break the quarantine SOP,” said the Dewan Rakyat Speaker.

It shows that Parliament could have regulated its MPs and sat for more than one day in May. – December 14, 2020.

*Hafiz Hassan reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.