It is now clear that the “backdoor” Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has been politicking from Day One to lockdown Parliament and cripple parliamentary oversight and scrutiny.

The nullification of the Bersatu membership of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Mukhriz Mahathir, Maszlee Malik, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and Amiruddin Hamzah and the postponement of the 12th Malaysia Plan are the latest politicking of the backdoor government, which give the lie to Muhyiddin’s claim last month that since becoming Prime Minister on March 1, he had not thought about politics as the people were “sick” of it.

Let Muhyiddin explain whether the postponement of the 12th Malaysia Plan is a prelude to the cancellation of the July/August meeting of Parliament.

According to the parliamentary takwim (calender) sent out by the former Parliament secretary, Riduan bin Rahmat, to all MPs on 18th March before he was ignominiously, summarily and unconstitutionally sacked as Dewan Rakyat secretary on May 13, 2020 – making him the shortest-term Dewan Rakyat secretary in Malaysian parliamentary history – Parliament is to meet for 25 sittings from July 13 to August 27.

Already this parliamentary calender had been changed thrice since Muhyiddin became Prime Minister on March 1, 2020.

In the revised parliamentary calendar the 25-day July/August meeting, eight days are allocated to the Motion of Thanks for the Royal Address (the debate by backbenchers halved from the traditional eight days to four days), 11 days for the debate on the 12th Malaysia Plan and six days for government business including bills.

It is now reported that the Cabinet had as early as May 6 decided to postpone the tabling of the 12th Malaysia Plan in Parliament on August 6, 2020 to next year.

Why were MPs and the Malaysian public not told of this Cabinet decision earlier?

With the postponement of the 12th Malaysia Plan till next year, is this the prelude to the cancellation of the July/August meeting of Parliament, which will not have to meet until the end of the year for the passage of the 2021 Budget?

It is regrettable that during the Covid-19 outbreak, when the government should be setting a national example of uniting Malaysians of diverse races and religions to face the new normal in the coronavirus world – containing the Covid-19 virus, preventing any resurgence, and achieving a national recovery of the economy and the national life in as short a time as possible – the Cabinet is busy at wits’ end to find new reasons to justify the continued lockdown of Parliament and the paralysis of the role of Members of Parliament of oversight and scrutiny of the Executive.

Assurances like the ones given by the Finance Minister in a Bernama interview that Malaysia has the capacity to spur economic recovery in 2021 impresses no one when the government is unable even to present to Parliament its exit plan strategy and blueprint.

By continuing its Machiavellian politicking, like the lockdown of Parliament and the paralysis of the role of MPs of parliamentary oversight and scrutiny of the Executive, the present government is doing the greatest disservice to the nation.

The coronavirus is not going to go away. It is likely to be with us for up to five years.

The Covid-19 is still on a global rampage, recording over 6 million cases and surpassing 366,000 deaths.

Yesterday, it registered the largest daily increase of cases – over 125,000 cases.

When Malaysia imposed the movement control order (MCO) on March 18, the global total of Covid-19 confirmed cases was 218,910 cases. Now this figure would be reached in less than two days.

The jury is out whether Malaysia and the world have won the invisible war against the coronavirus – public health, education and social.

In Malaysia, the conditional movement control order (CMCO) in still in force.

But what is certain is that the invisible war against Covid-19 cannot be won unless there is an unprecedented unity and community in a nation, and a government which could command such public confidence and trust.

The Cabinet must be reminded that the era where the government knows best is long past, and the Government must learn from Malaysians and the world how to achieve the new norm in a coronavirus world which may last as long as five years.

This is why the lockdown of Parliament and the paralysis of MPs’ role of oversight and scrutiny of the Executive during the Covid-19 outbreak must end.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on Saturday, 30th May 2020)