PKR Sarawak accuses GPS of disrespecting royal institution

MIRI: The failure of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) to support the call for Parliament to reconvene during the current Emergency goes against the decree of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, said Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sarawak information chief Abun Sui.

In a statement yesterday, Abun criticised GPS for remaining silent on the matter and accused the state ruling coalition of disrespecting the institution of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and constitutional monarchy of Malaysia.

“GPS failed to persuade the Perikatan Nasional government to call for Parliament to sit, and is seen as colluding with the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department who gave the excuse that reconvening Parliament is a risk to the many elderly parliamentarians due to the current Covid-19 situation in Malaysia.

“This stand (by GPS) disrespects the decree of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and shows a bad example to the people,” said Abun.

On Wednesday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan who is the country’s de facto law minister said Parliament sittings were discouraged at the moment due to the high risk posed by the virus to nearly half of the MPs.

Takiyuddin said that 77 of the current MPs are aged between 61 and 69 years while four are aged 80 and above.

“So almost half of our 220 MPs fall under the high-risk category. We don’t want our MPs to be exposed in an enclosed area that can trigger the spread of the inspection,” he told a press conference aired over Facebook, when asked to respond to the King’s decree.

On Feb 24, a statement released by the Comptroller of the Royal Household Datuk Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong AlSultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin AlMustafa Billah Shah had decreed that Parliament could reconvene even during the Emergency period upon the advice of Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Abun meanwhile said PKR Sarawak supports the statement issued by the Pakatan Harapan secretariat on Wednesday, that the standard operating procedures taken by Parliament during last year’s sitting were effective in view that none of the Covid-19 clusters that emerged during that time were related to the sitting, and more so when none of the MPs were vaccinated at the time.