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PETALING JAYA: A lawyer said today that the move to limit Parliament to just 80 MPs at any time starting next week is a threat to democracy, as it does not offer parliamentarians left out an avenue to participate in the debates.
Andrew Khoo said that while the spirit of the 80-member limit in Parliament to curb the spread of Covid-19 was correct, the right of the other 142 MPs to participate in the debates should not be taken away from them.
“He is denying deputies their rights and their obligation to attend Parliament and to be able to do their job to represent those who elected them,” he told the FMT.
Khoo, who is the co-chair of the Bar Association’s Constitutional Law Committee, said that the UK Parliament had taken the proactive step of initiating proceedings online, with only 50 MPs present in Chambers, while another 120 are able to attend. the online session.
“Many other parliaments around the world have adjusted their rules to respond to the pandemic, without compromising the role and responsibility of any parliamentarian to fully represent their constituents.
“Therefore, it should not exclude deputies from the performance of their duties, speaking and voting in person or virtually.
“We began a Covid-19 shutdown on March 18. It is unacceptable that more than seven months later, the Dewan Rakyat Standing Orders cannot be modified to allow virtual sessions. What has the Standing Orders Committee been up to all this time? ” I ask.
Khoo also questioned the limitation of question time by MPs, which he said weakened the checks and balances system as elected representatives are unable to ask enough questions. It also undermines the democratic system.
He hoped that the spread of the deputies physically present in Parliament would even be among members of the government and opposition seats.
Lawyer Lim Wei Jiet agreed that an online Parliament session was the best option, saying the speaker could allow this by suspending a rule that requires all deputies to take their place under Standing Order 90.
He said the speaker could then develop guidelines on conducting virtual hearings. He said the Maldives Parliament made headlines for conducting successful proceedings online.
“In fact, our Parliament may start with hybrid procedures first, as was done recently in the UK. Some deputies physically attend the proceedings while the rest attend virtually. There are a variety of options available to facilitate a smooth transition to a full virtual Parliament, ”he said in a Facebook post.
Previously, the Dewan Rakyat announced that it would only allow 41 members from the government bank and another 39 from the opposition and / or independent bank. However, the 222 deputies would be allowed to enter the Chamber to vote.
This came after seven members of Parliament’s staff tested positive for Covid-19.
Other measures include shorter procedures from 10 am to 2 pm each day, which will reduce the minister’s questioning time and debate on bills.
The minister’s question time has been shortened to five minutes and the responses will be sent to the MEPs who asked the questions and uploaded to Parliament’s website.
