Bar president AG Kalidas said there has been deep concern with the government’s continued failure to heed the repeated calls by various parties to reconvene Parliament.

“While we acknowledge the government’s need to focus on combating the Covid-19 pandemic, the work of governing Malaysia cannot be one-dimensional.

“We are of the view that public health and safety measures may be carried out in tandem with, and not at the expense of, the reconvening of Parliament,” he said in a statement.

Kalidas said other countries such as the UK had transformed their legislative procedures for Parliament to continue to sit, although in a hybrid manner.

He said the Westminster Parliament had never stopped working, especially throughout the darkest days of Covid-19 in the UK, even though their MPs were not prioritised for vaccination.

“Why is the Malaysian Parliament different? Why has the Malaysian Parliament remained closed when all members of Parliament have been or could have been vaccinated? Why has not the legislative branch of government been allowed to perform its constitutional functions?” he asked.

Kalidas said the Malaysian Bar fully supports the idea of Parliament sittings in a hybrid manner to ensure that it can perform its purposes and serve the citizens at all times.

“The requisite checks and balances of robust parliamentary oversight is the very ‘inoculation’ that is needed to prevent any abuse,” he said.

He also said there was a myriad of issues that needed to be debated and discussed, including ways to handle the pandemic, protect livelihoods and revive the economy.

These matters must be looked into immediately and the voice of Malaysian democracy must be heard, he said.

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