PARLIAMENT is more than a mere symbol of democracy; it is the cornerstone of a functional politics – “no taxation without representation”.  

On Monday morning, around 100 parliamentarians were blocked from entering Parliament. The MPs were forced to gather at Dataran Merdeka instead before dispersing.

This was after Opposition MPs, said to number 107, were denied their call for the Parliament to reconvene last Monday, and for the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing on vaccine procurement to proceed. After much hassle, the PAC, however, managed to hold its meeting.

The week before, fireworks flew in the august hall, where ministers were accused of cutting short the already limited debate time, and the Speaker was accused of bias, overly defending those ministers, and even of covering up for them.

Opposition MPs argued there wasn’t enough time to debate a plethora of issues, mostly related to the government’s handling of the pandemic.

Indeed, apart from a fast-tracked vaccination process, everything from hospital supplies to the unceasingly increasing number of infections, to the multiplied numbers of deaths related to Covid-19, and the somewhat related contract doctors’ dispute, all needed urgent discussion.

The imbroglio came to a breaking point when the law minister was accused of misleading the House in declaring that the Emergency had ended.  

Opposition MPs weren’t the only ones who felt this way. No less than our king himself have issued decrees on this matter twice that His Majesty wished to see debate on that matter.

His Majesty had also formed an advisory council to counsel the Palace on extension or otherwise of the Emergency that ended on Monday. 

So, it was not only disrespectful to our royal institution, but to the Parliament and members of the palace-appointed committee that the MP for Kota Baru, Takiyuddin Hassan, made the allegedly erroneous statement. 

Even the parliamentary session that was suspended took months to materialise, after much noise from the public, and even mild rebukes from the Palace.  

That it should come to this is disappointing. 

Parliament convenes and debates in the name of His Majesty and for the people. It is arguably the most important governing body in the country.  

An Emergency sometimes suspends Parliament indefinitely, usually in the event the Parliament itself, or by insinuation, politics, contributes to a crisis.

In the case of the pandemic, it does not. On the other hand, check and balance is vital where RM550 billion have been allocated without scrutiny in aid alone, or 71% more funds than the entire 2021 federal budget. 

Yet, during the declared Emergency, the Parliament was one of the last things convened, superseded by factories, casinos, even cinemas and other less critical activities. 

While economic activity is important, surely parliamentary policy decisions directly affect the economy in ways far greater than any one single manufacturing plant! 

Five hundred days into the lockdown, the minister in charge and the Speaker should not have an excuse not to have devised ways for the Parliament to convene safely, such as utilising technology, as has been done with countless conventions, the APEC summit, Cabinet and post-Cabinet meetings and so on.  

Hybrid sessions have long been in place in other common law jurisdictions, and it is incredulous that we have neither devised nor implemented a way to do this, behind many other nations. 

To lock down the Parliament after 11 cases, for two weeks, does not make much sense either.

A factory with numerous deaths and hundreds of cases was only locked down a week, and a few vaccination centres found to have infections were closed only for a maximum of three days.

The IDCC outbreak, which saw 200 cases, was only closed a day, not to mention the many factories and businesses operating at 60% capacity, some without vaccination or even tests. 

What sort of signal are we sending when we deem it “unsafe” for 220 MPs, almost all of them fully vaccinated, in a controlled environment, in the presence to be monitored by no less than the health minister and his two deputies, to meet with full SOPs?

If it is so with them, what hope does the rakyat have to go back to the “old” normal, or for conditions to be loosened for travel?   

The government has been waxing lyrical about proper channels since criticism was first levelled against them at the beginning of the pandemic, to now, in various evolving forms, from petitions to black shirts to white flags and street protests. Yet the one “safe” place for people to question their government is closed. 

Or, are there other reasons this government, which has not faced a vote since November 2020, would want to postpone convening it? – August 4, 2021.

* Emmanuel Joseph firmly believes that Klang is the best place on Earth, and that motivated people can do far more good than any leader with motive.

* 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.