Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Azmin Ali speaks to the press during a visit to the Bukit Jawi Golf Resort vaccination centre in Penang June 17, 2021. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin
SEBERANG PERAI, June 17 — The Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s call for Parliament to sit as soon as possible is in line with the federal government’s intentions, said Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.
The international trade and industry minister said the government intends to reconvene Parliament at a suitable time.
“The prime minister stated a few days ago that Parliament will reconvene. We never said Parliament will not reconvene,” he said during a press conference following his visit to the Bukit Jawi Golf Resort Covid-19 vaccination centre (PPV) under Program Immunisasi Industri Covid-19 Kerjasama Awam-Swasta (Pikas).
He said the prime minister had acted based on the standing order and Federal Constitution.
“There will be a suitable time for Parliament to reconvene in accordance with the standing order and Federal Constitution,” he said.
He stressed that the government has always made decisions based on the Federal Constitution and in accordance with the law.
“The actions the government has taken over the past year were all based on the Federal Constitution and in accordance with the law,” he said.
Azmin was responding to the announcement by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al- Mustafa Billah Shah yesterday that Parliament should be allowed to reconvene as soon as possible to enable proper discussion of the Emergency Ordinance and Malaysia’s Covid-19 recovery plan.
He stressed that Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had never made any unilateral decisions.
“If we look at the National Security Council meetings, state leaders were also involved and their views were taken into consideration before any decisions were made,” he said.
Azmin said the government had recorded several successes over the past year, especially in controlling the number of Covid-19 cases in the country.
“According to the Susceptible-Exposed- Infectious-Removed (SEIR) model, the number of positive cases could have reached 13,000 per day on June 14 but we recorded 4,900 cases on that day instead,” he said.
He said this showed that the steps taken by the governments were effective in flattening the curve.
He said the focus now is to accelerate the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) and Pikas so that herd immunity can be achieved as soon as possible.