LETTERS: Parliament is all set to reopen its doors after eight months following the Emergency declaration in January this year.
Last week, Speakers of the Dewan Negara and the Dewan Rakyat announced that the first sitting is set to take place in early August to discuss and approve matters relating to a hybrid sitting. This is to be followed by the actual sitting at either the end of that month, or early September.
This is a welcome relief for many. Parliament is the country's top legislature, which is one of the three branches of government. The other two are the judiciary and the executive.
The members, particularly those in the Dewan Rakyat, are voted in elections. Rightfully, these lawmakers are supposed to air and reflect the views of the voters whom they represent in the August House. As the popular Latin phrase goes, Vox Populi Vox Dei or "The voice of the people is the voice of God".
For months, lawmakers were unable to carry out that responsibility owing to the suspension of Parliament due to the Covid-19 pandemic. For example, lawmakers had difficulties holding the Government to because platforms like the daily Q&A sessions in Parliament were not made available.
Now that the legislatures like the Dewan Rakyat, the Senate and the respective state assemblies are set to reconvene, it'd be easier for lawmakers to play their role as a check-and-balance mechanism in the country's system of governance.
The government has acceded to the wishes of not just the royal households who had called for the Emergency to end on Aug 1, paving the way for the legislatures to reconvene. It is also the wishes of the public who want their views and aspirations to be ventilated in the hallowed halls of the legislatures by the people whom they had elected.
Towards this end, let's hope that the respective lawmakers accord the legislatures with the honour and dignity they deserve, and not turn them into a political circus. There's a time to play politics, and there's a time to get down to business, especially in battling the Covid-19 pandemic. Now is the time for the latter.
Jeremy Sta Maria
Ujong Pasir, Melaka
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times