YOURSAY | 'Parliament will reopen in Phase 3. Expect a long Phase 2.'

Muhyiddin assures Parliament will reconvene in Phase 3 of exit plan

Oct: The National Recovery Plan is a non-recovery plan for the rakyat. It makes no sense when there are no specifics and no fixed timeline, other than target dates.

Everything depends. On what? How can the situation improve when positive actions are not included? The plan becomes defeatist.

The plan also shows that the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government has given up hope on the pandemic. It seems it has surrendered to Allah/God to fight the virus.

Initially, the government said Parliament suspension is used to fight the virus. Now the PN government says Parliament will open when the administration feels safe. Goalpost shifted.

Parliament reopening is considered the least important task by the government when it should be a top priority as Parliament is about governing Malaysia in the best manner.

StrainingGnats, SwallowCamels: Are all MPs vaccinated? If not, why not? And if they are all vaccinated, why can’t Parliament reconvene, observing all SOPs (standard operating procedures)?

Surely the extra effort put into observing all precautionary SOPs in order to reconvene Parliament for the nation's business is worth the effort?

What is needed is 100 percent vaccination of the MPs, not 40 percent of the population.

Kim Quek: Reopening Parliament only after 40 percent of the population is fully vaccinated?

But after almost four months of vaccination, the government has only achieved four percent (1.4 million out of 33 million)! Wouldn’t it be kingdom come when the 40 percent is achieved?

We have enough nonsense from this government, as there is no conceivable reason why Parliament should be suspended, other than to enable this illegitimate government to hang on to power – unconstitutionally.

Hasn’t the PN government shamed us enough for being the only country in the world where Parliament is suspended because of Covid-19?

Enough is enough! The government must re-convene Parliament immediately.

Kita OrangBiasa: One simple question for the government - if Parliament goes into session in Phase 3 (below 2,000 cases) and suddenly the Covid-19 figures hit 2,222 (since the average is not defined), will Parliament be suspended again?

Indeed, will the extra 222 infections put a halt to 222 MPs debating national issues in Parliament?

Until today, the government has failed to explain how shutting down Parliament can bring the Covid-19 numbers down. And in fact, the figures never came down since Jan 12 this year.

Conclusion: It appears to be a grand strategy by the government to delay Parliament sessions and stay in power without any accountability.

Chokstone: In recent months, we have become the most seriously infected nation in the whole world in terms of Covid-19 infectivity per capita population.

It happened even months after the pronouncement of the emergency. It clearly indicated that the emergency had only worsened the pandemic as all the stupid decision on curbing the pandemic has been made behind closed doors without going through thorough discussion in Parliament.

The whole world has taken the Covid-19 pandemic management as a measure of government competency. Now, we are the ‘champions’? How come and why?

The answer is straightforward and crystal clear - it’s incompetency and the ‘tidak apa’ (never mind) attitude of the government and its leaders.

To date, more than 4,000 Malaysian lives have been unnecessarily lost due to our leaders’ incompetence, and sadly, more would be sacrificed in the coming days.

BlueShark1548: PM, we are fed up with the excuses from you and your ministers. Just let the emergency end and reconvene Parliament.

Your cabinet has failed the nation and the rakyat, and it is best that more competent people be appointed to the cabinet to take Malaysia out from our deep dark hole!

We need accountability for the billions of ringgit allotted to fight Covid-19 and to build our economy and assist the rakyat. With the emergency, there is no accountability and scrutiny by MPs.

Apache: Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin changed the goalposts on the reopening of Parliament again - from Aug 1 to September or October, subject to daily cases below 500 and sufficient ICU beds.

Why is the opening of Parliament conditional on daily cases and ICU beds? All Muhyiddin needs is to set aside 5,000 doses of vaccines to vaccinate the 222 MPs and their staff in Parliament and we can commence Parliament on Aug 1.

India, with much higher daily Covid-19 cases and death rates, did not suspend their Parliament. In fact, they conducted state elections.

This minority government may cook out another Recovery Plan 2.0 in September or October to extend its lifespan further into the future.

There is no light at the end of the tunnel with such ever-changing and subjective conditions but an incoming train coming to ‘kiss’ us all.

PurpleRusa9578: Parliament will reopen in Phase 3. Expect a long Phase 2.

Analyser: “Phase 3 is when the daily caseload drops below 500 per day.”

Muhyiddin never says for how many days it has to be below 500 before he will act. This only demonstrates how little he understands.

Any good maths teacher could extrapolate the existing decline line and predict that it is unlikely to happen anywhere near September.

Mano: Students not vaccinated cannot sit for exams, while parliamentarians are vaccinated but cannot sit in Parliament. This is very confusing.

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