LETTER | Don't sideline Parliament's role in Covid-19 bill

LETTER | On Aug 7 2020, the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government presented a Temporary Measures for Government Financing (Coronavirus Disease 2019) 2020, in Dewan Rakyat for first reading. It was a government move to manage the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the well-being of Malaysia and its rakyat.

The bill will raise the statutory ceiling of debt from 55 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 60 percent. This is necessary to enable the government to spend more to increase the country's economic growth rate to meet the challenge of the “new normal.” It also aims to approve the allocation that has been spent by the government through Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (Prihatin) and Pelan Jana Semula Ekonomi Negara (Penjana) when the movement control order (MCO) was implemented.

Although the bill is a step forward, it does not give a clear picture of the role of Parliament in handling government accountability during the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, the Covid-19 bill gives much power to the minister. Subsection 5 (2) (a) empowers the minister of finance to suspend and limit the provisions in the bill schedule and economic stimulus package. Meanwhile, Subsection 5 (2) (b) allows the finance minister to use the surplus allocation for a programme at his prerogative.

This will open the door to possible mismanagement and leakage. Issues such as the technical problems of moratorium announcements and subsidy assistance that were delayed during the previous MCO show that government policies need to be reviewed more seriously.

Parliament can play an important role in reviewing the transparency of governance and balancing the powers of the finance minister as contained in this bill. The function of the Select Committee of the Dewan Rakyat is important to ensure that the government is responsible and effective in implementing its policies during Covid-19.

In New Zealand, their parliament has set up an “Epidemic Response Committee” which has the authority to monitor government action during pandemic under the Covid-19 Response (Urgent Management Measures) Act 2020. The committee consists of New Zealand MPs from various political parties.

Therefore, it is very appropriate for our government to emphasise the role of Parliament as a check and balance institution in this current bill. Select committees in the Dewan Rakyat can be used to scrutinise government decisions in addressing economic issues and the Covid-19 impact towards a more accountable approach.

We have already seen the frustration of the people and opposition MPs alike when the government refused to convene an emergency parliamentary session to debate Covid-19 issues.

The government's reason that Parliament will 'delay' the people's assistance is an irresponsible statement and it needs to reconsider the basic premise of parliamentary function to convene during Covid-19.nThe government should not repeat these mistakes.

It would be better if the government included a section allowing Parliament to convene virtually during Covid-19 in this bill. This proposal is to enable MPs to continue monitoring and bring the rakyat’s issues to the attention of the government so that it can be addressed in the policy-making process.

Parliament should serve as an institution to discuss, scrutinise and approve standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the government or the National Security Council so that there are no technical problems that might cause confusion among the rakyat.

To overcome this problem, it is more significant if the SOPs for Covid-19 are brought under parliamentary scrutiny so that technical issues can be resolved w and not cause anxiety among the people.

This was practised by the UK parliament where every SOP on Covid-19 preventive measures by the government was reviewed and approved by their parliament before they were implemented.

Throughout the last MCO, we have seen Malaysia successfully control the Covid-19 pandemic with excellence and recognition by the world.

However, the era of “Your government knows best” is no longer relevant as the various views and suggestions from MPs and the people need to be heard by the government today so that this crisis can be managed more effectively. 

Thus, Parliament’s role should be strengthened and be part of the policy-making process during these trying times.

The writer is research coordinator, Research for Social Advancement (Tambakan).

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.