TODAY will be the first Parliamentary session ever since the august house was suspended following the Emergency Proclamation in February, in the pretext of combating COVID-19.
Since then, the Government has been creating and implementing policies at its whims and fancies with the Opposition bloc, Pakatan Harapan, decrying the matter as the coalition wanted to participate in the effort to contain the deadly pandemic and policies surrounding the matter.
However, as the facts and figure show, Prime Minister Tan Sri Mahiaddin Yassin’s team has failed to contain COVID-19 even with the use of Emergency powers, as evident in the cases now having breached the five-digit mark.
Many have argued, including Mahiaddin’s ally Umno, that the Emergency Proclamation was unnecessary in the first place as the Government has enough legislative powers to put in the necessary measures to deal with the public health crisis.
They claimed that Mahiaddin was using the Emergency to hold on to power, leading to several UMNO MPs such as Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub withdrawing their support from the coalition.
And so it began with Umno and Pakatan leaders making several moves to force Mahiaddin to reconvene the Parliament to test his majority, claiming he was holding on to power illegitimately.
While political power brokers jostle to decide on the next Government, COVID-19 cases kept soaring with thousands being hospitalised and many losing their lives to it.
Plus, the economy is now in shambles, with more businesses collapsing and people losing jobs due to the lockdowns imposed across the country.
Unable to bear the pressure, suicide cases have escalated, triggering an outcry from the public and political leaders themselves.
Unable to organise mass protests, the public turned to social media to vent their frustrations, trending #KerajaanGagal, #KerajaanBodoh, #KerajaanCirit and others.
Delay tactics?
Sensing the massive public uproar and the Government’s insistence in not reconvening the Parliament, the Conference of Rulers stepped in and decreed that the august house must be reconvened to debate the Emergency Proclamation, its Ordinances and other matters relating to COVID-19 and the economy.
Everyone noticed that the Prime Minister and his acolytes did their best to sidestep the Rulers’ decree by making various interpretations, sometimes outright ludicrous ones.
However, Mahiaddin succumbed to the pressure and announced that Parliament will be holding a special session starting today until Aug 2.
But nothing is straightforward as it seems!
When Umno and Pakatan leaders got the Parliamentary schedule list, they went ballistic as it looked like the roster was filled with ministers’ “briefing sessions”, arguing that pertinent matters as decreed by Istana Negara was not given room to be discussed or debated.
The Government and Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun had made promises that debates will be allowed during the session.
However, Azhar’s attitude has been of suspect when he rejected five motions from Pakatan, including the one sent by Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on technicalities, creating doubt on the former’s neutrality.
Azhar’s action was even noticed and criticised by his own deputy, Datuk Azalina Othman Said.
So, it is anyone’s guess on what will transpire at the Dewan Rakyat today. The public will also see how the now divided Umno deals with Mahiaddin as its supreme council have declared that its MPs would quit Government posts if the Emergency stays beyond Aug 1.
Given the multiple crisis Malaysia is facing, probably it is best for everyone not to get their hopes high in getting pressing matters being debated at the Dewan Rakyat. – July 26, 2021
