DAP to lodge reports against PM, Cabinet for not allowing Parliament to sit
(FMT) – DAP says it will be filing police reports against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his Cabinet for not allowing Parliament to sit during the emergency despite the King’s decree.
The party’s secretary-general, Lim Guan Eng, said Muhyiddin and the Cabinet were “stubbornly refusing” to accede to the King’s command to allow Parliament to reconvene.
“Such refusal is not only an act of treachery against democracy but also ‘lese majeste’ against the King,” he said in a statement today.
The Bagan MP also slammed de facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan on his statement over the continued postponement of Parliamentary sittings, saying it was ridiculous.
“It is dishonest for Takiyuddin to claim that the provisions relating to the summoning, proroguing and dissolution of Parliament in the Federal Constitution shall have no effect when an emergency is in force under Article 14(1) of the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance 2021,” he said.
Lim claimed that Takiyuddin had chosen to mislead the people by leaving out the crucial words in the Emergency ordinance “on a date as the King thinks appropriate”.
“Since the King has already expressed that even when the emergency is in force, Parliament can convene on a date he deems appropriate, based on advice from the prime minister, there is no reason for the prime minister not to give an early date.
“Takiyuddin should stop being deceptive and evasive by defying the will of both the King and the rakyat.”
He said Takiyuddin should instead support the demand for by a majority of the MPs from both the opposition and the current government for Parliament to be convened.
“For Takiyuddin to further claim that the government did not want to expose MPs to unnecessary risks as many of them fall in the high-risk group for Covid-19, with 77 MPs aged between 61 and 69, 19 between 70 and 79 and four aged 80 and above, is an insult to our intelligence. What is the use of vaccination then?”
He added that not a single MP has contracted Covid-19 in Parliament but many were infected outside Parliament.
“There is no rationale for suspending Parliament except to ensure the survival of the current government and the prime minister, who is not confident that he still retains his Parliamentary majority,” he added.
Recently, Takiyuddin said the statement by Istana Negara was just to explain that the Cabinet will be the one to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on when Parliament can sit.
He also said with the King able to enact laws through the Emergency Ordinance, there was no need for Parliament to meet.
The King said Parliament was allowed to reconvene during the emergency period which is scheduled to end in August, on a date deemed suitable by him on the advice of the prime minister.
