KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 — Pakatan Harapan (PH) announced that it was taking a “grand tent” approach to unite all the country and will write to the Yang diPertuan Agong for the resumption of Malaysia’s parliamentary democracy.
In a joint statement, PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) president Mohamad Sabu said they will send a memorandum signed by all lawmakers who wanted Parliament to be restored.
“At the just concluded Pakatan Harapan Retreat in Port Dickson, the leadership is emboldened by the spirit of unity and commitment to reform.
“We will aggressively continue to champion the rakyat’s aspirations by adopting the ‘grand tent’ approach to unify all Malaysians from all strata of society, regardless of political affiliations to restore parliamentary democracy by ending the unlawful suspension of Parliament.
“For this purpose, a memorandum signed by all members of parliament supporting the reopening of Parliament will be personally sent to His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong at Istana Negara to uphold His Majesty’s royal opinion that the Emergency does not prevent Parliament from meeting.
“We reiterate the need to engage and to cooperate with any parties, based on the principles and the ‘agenda reformasi for the benefit of the rakyat, without including kleptocrats,” the trio said.
On February 24, the Agong issued a decree saying Parliament could convene during the current Emergency and should do so soon.
Last month, Lim said de facto law minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hasan should abide by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s wishes and push for Parliament’s reopening under the Emergency instead of delaying it, adding that failure to do is tantamount to lèse-majesté, though Malaysian laws do not make disobeying the King an offence.
Lim also questioned the purpose of vaccinating all MPs and promoting the RM5 billion National Immunisation Programme, when MPs are prohibited from exercising their duties to legislate new laws and government oversight.
On March 4, Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Anwar also issued separate statements demanding the restoration of Parliament.
Both insisted that this must be done given that Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has unequivocally decreed that the federal legislature can convene notwithstanding the current Emergency.
