KUALA LUMPUR (May 15): If Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and the Perikatan Nasional Government are confident of having majority support from MPs, there is no harm in allowing Parliament to have a meaningful session on May 18 by using technology like video conferencing, said former Minister Yeo Bee Yin.

In a statement today, the DAP Member of Parliament for Bakri said the Standing Order of the Dewan Rakyat can be amended to allow such a provision, if needed.

"The first Parliament session of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) Government will be held next Monday, 18 May 2020, for only one day with no question and answer sessions, no motion, no debate, and no vote.

“Since the infamous power grab, COVID-19 has been used as a grand excuse by the PN Government for not holding any Parliament session or Parliamentary Committee meetings as what a proper democracy should be,” Yeo said.

“With the current and available technologies, there are a thousand and one 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," she said.

"In fact, no rocket science is needed to operate Parliament virtually,”  she added.

In many countries, Yeo said, their Parliaments have started to operate virtually, either in full or partially. They include developed countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Belgium, France, New Zealand and Luxembourg, and also developing countries like Poland, Maldives, Brazil, Angola and others.

Yeo also took a jab at her successor Khairy Jamaluddin, saying he has been “extraordinarily silent” on advocating technology use for the Parliament sitting despite having promoted technology use in COVID-19 containment measures such as contact tracing and patient care.  

“This sitting is critical for the people and any given government would have the good sense and responsibility to the people to convene and debate what is the next course of action with the interest of the people at heart.

“Are we not, first and foremost, the people’s representatives to voice their utmost concerns, and Parliament is where we convene?” asked Yeo.

“Will [the] PN government continue to use COVID-19 as an excuse to avoid proving their majority in the Parliament as well as facing check-and-balance from the Opposition?

“Or will we see immediate technological solution from Khairy Jamaluddin so that COVID-19 can no longer be an excuse to run a proper Parliament sitting?” she asked.

The Dewan Rakyat is scheduled to have a short, one-day session on Monday (May 18).

Initially planned for a full one-day session, Muhyiddin submitted a letter to the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat to inform him that the Government had decided to limit the agenda only to the opening speech of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, on grounds that the COVID-19 outbreak had not subsided.

The Opposition had previously called for a full debate of the Government’s RM260 billion COVID-19 economic stimulus packages, which were announced in March and April.

The shortened one-day sitting also means that the Dewan Rakyat will have to postpone a motion for a vote of no confidence against Muhyiddin, which was requested by his predecessor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad and approved by the Dewan Rakyat Speaker.