Loke: Health DG statement misleading, opposition didn't agree to suspend House
Seremban MP Anthony Loke has disputed Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah's claim that government and opposition representatives agreed for Parliament to be suspended if Covid-19 cases were found during the special sitting which started on July 26.
"I take that Noor Hisham's statement claiming the opposition agreed with the postponement of Parliament to be confusing the public," Loke (above) said in a statement.
Yesterday, Noor Hisham said the Health Ministry met with party representatives from the government and opposition on July 26, shortly before the start of the special Dewan Rakyat sitting.
During the meeting, he said the ministry recommended for the sitting to be postponed until the vaccination rate in the Klang Valley hits 40 percent.
Alternatively, he said the Health Ministry suggested that Parliament proceed with precautions (reduced capacity and length) but should immediately be suspended if Covid-19 cases were found.
Noor Hisham said the bipartisan meeting agreed to the second option.
Loke said while opposition representatives did agree to the precautionary measures, they did not endorse a postponement.
Loke, who represented DAP, said he was among the opposition representatives at the meeting. He added that Kulim-Bandar Baru MP Saifuddin Nasution Ismail representing PKR and Dzulkefly Ahmad representing Amanah were also there.
"The three of us agreed for the sitting to proceed with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) that were already implemented including the pre-screening for all MPs.
"I also proposed that if there were any concerns, we were willing to undergo testing every week and if any MPs were found to be positive, they should undergo quarantine.
The government last Saturday announced the sitting would be suspended after the discovery of 11 Covid-19 cases.
However, Loke criticised the decision, stating it only represented less than one percent of the more than 1,000 people tested.
The Health Ministry defended the decision, stating that six out of the 11 people who tested positive were highly contagious.
It was likely they carried the highly infectious Delta variant, the ministry added.
Opposition wants PM out
Meanwhile, Pakatan Harapan and other opposition leaders, in a joint statement, also criticised Parliament's suspension and demanded Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's resignation.
"We record our regret and strong objection to the prime minister's directive for the special sitting on August 2 to be suspended even though the number of positive cases in Parliament only amounted to 0.9 percent as of July 29.
"The suspension is disrespectful of the Federal Constitution, the process of parliamentary democracy, and also sidelines the Istana Negara's media statement," they said.
Istana Negara had last Thursday reprimanded the government for defying the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's request to have the emergency ordinances to be debated in the Dewan Rakyat.
Instead, the government revoked the emergency ordinances without the ruler's assent.
The conflict between the ruler and the Perikatan Nasional government led to a constitutional crisis.
The opposition leaders backed the ruler's position and expressed shock at the government's defiance.
The joint statement was signed by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the PKR president, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.
Other opposition leaders who endorsed the statement included Upko's Wilfred Madius Tangau, Muda's Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman, PSB's Baru Bian, and independent MP Maszlee Malik. - Mkini
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