Kota Kinabalu MP says PM should think twice before suspending Parliament

KOTA KINABALU – Democratic Action Party (DAP) Member of Parliament for Kota Kinabalu, Chan Foong Hin today urged Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to think carefully before calling for the suspension of Parliament.

“He has to consider if this is a good idea; it is a serious decision that would greatly affect the people and lead to controversy,” he said.

Chan was referring to reporting from online news publications today that Muhyiddin sought an audience with the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong to offer a proposal to declare a state of emergency. 

Chan, who is also DAP Sabah secretary, said if the state of emergency is just for the purpose of fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, then there was no need for Parliament to be shut down entirely.

Such a drastic course of action could be seen as an attempt by the prime minister to avoid parliamentary scrutiny of the government's handling of the health crisis. 

“Worst still, Sabah’s parliamentarians arrived in Kuala Lumpur two weeks earlier for self-quarantine just to attend the upcoming session of Parliament starting on November 2 during this pandemic.

“Could it be that our 14-day quarantine time would end up as a waste after all? As an MP from Sabah, I have no interest in flying to Kuala Lumpur to live in a hotel for nothing. We are here to perform the official duties of an MP!”  

He said some news outlets had reported that the word "emergency" will be replaced, and the wording repackaged.  

“Changing the word cannot change the fact that this Muhyiddin government is incapable of fighting the pandemic and may have lost the confidence of his supporters that it had to resort to such a façade to stabilize the regime,” he said. 

Describing Muhyiddin as politically blackmailed by Umno, Chan believes the prime minister has no confidence in his coalition partners and needed to take drastic action, such as a state of emergency to pass the 2021 Budget.

“It seems that the top priority of this state of emergency is actually to bypass Parliament in approving a further budget for the fight against the pandemic,” said Chan.

Chan reiterated that MPs must be allowed to review the annual budget proposed by the government to fulfill the mandate from the people.  

"We are all mature politicians. After the Sabah election and with a third wave of Covid-19 cases hitting our shores, no political party is now calling for the dissolution of the parliament for elections.  

“It is time for a truce deal with Muhyiddin Yassin's government. To this end, the DAP had via national organising secretary Anthony Loke stated its terms. Everyone should come to the negotiating table regardless of political differences and reconcile for the sake of the community. 

“In the event Muhyiddin insists on proceeding with the declaration of a state of emergency, he will be remembered in the history of Malaysia as being a cowardly Prime Minister who has zero confidence in himself that he had to rely on crippling the legislature to avoid scrutiny,” Chan added. – The Vibes, October 23, 2020