Kit Siang: Luckily Hamzah's herd immunity idea hasn't infected the world
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has been challenged to state if he would endorse Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin's position that Parliament should not reconvene until herd immunity against Covid-19 is achieved.
In a statement yesterday, Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang said Muhyiddin should state if this was the position taken by his government.
"What is the use of Hamzah talking about reconvening Parliament when Malaysia reaches herd immunity when neither the prime minister nor the minister in charge of the vaccination programme Khairy Jamaluddin has got a clear-cut timeline for achieving this?" asked Lim.
Muhyiddin's government has not stated when Parliament - which has not met in six months - would reconvene.
All legislatures have been suspended due to the proclamation of emergency which took effect on Jan 11 and set to expire on Aug 1.
Yesterday, Hamzah claimed that when Parliament is in session, close to 1,000 people will be present and without herd immunity, convening a sitting would cause more Covid-19 clusters.
"So, wouldn't this make it a hotspot? If we prevent this now, the cluster won't occur," Hamzah had said.
Lim, an 11-term MP, said it was fortunate that Hamzah's idea had not "infected" the rest of the world, or it would be the death knell for democracy.
He pointed out that the US, UK, Brazil and India did not suspend their Congress or Parliament despite the previous prevalence of Covid-19 in those countries.
"But most important of all, an expert medical opinion is coming round to the view that herd immunity may be impossible because of vaccine hesitancy, the emergence of new Covid-19 variants which are more deadly and more transmissible and the delayed arrival of vaccination for children," Lim added.
The campaign to reopen Parliament recently received a push from deputy Dewan Rakyat speaker Azalina Said Othman, who said if an in-person meeting was impossible, then it should be taken online.
Dewan Rakyat speaker Azhar Azizan Harun, however, was on a different trajectory, arguing that the ultimate decision on whether Parliament should convene lies with the executive.
The latest development saw de facto Law Minister Takiyuddin Hassan claiming yesterday that the government agreed in principle to convening a "hybrid" Dewan Rakyat sitting, involving in-person attendance and others following online. - Mkini
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