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SANDAKAN: Sandakan MP, Vivian Wong (pic) called on MCA Central Committee member Datuk Chew Kok Woh not to implicate the Agong’s name in the defence of the Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) refusal to allow any debate and question to be heard in Parliament.“That is, to me, the real disrespect to the Agong by Chew himself,” said Wong in a statement, Monday.  She was responding to a statement by Chew who asked if she was belittling the Agong by calling the current administration led by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as a “backdoor government”.

“Back in 1976 when Tun Hussein Onn was appointed as the country’s third prime minister after Tun Abdul Razak passed away midterm, Hussein convened an emergency parliament sitting to seek official endorsement from all members of parliament via a confidence vote motion. “Chew should advise his PN colleagues to emulate the leadership and statesmanship demonstrated by our former prime minister.

“All Members Parliament, including those from Sabah who will be quarantined upon return from Kuala Lumpur are here to attend the Agong’s royal address,” she said. She said the Parliament has also gone through great trouble to arrange Covid-19 testing and other arrangements for all MPs and staff on duty just for the Parliament session. “Why not let debates and questioning be conducted in the Parliament too? Wouldn’t that be a better use of taxpayer money?” “The real question Chew and his MCA colleagues should ask themselves is – why are his colleagues, who are now engaged in forming a government, reluctant to face Parliament?,” she said. Wong said it is the perfect opportunity to show that the Parliament endorses Muhyiddin and get rid of the backdoor government tag once and for all.

Wong also pointed out that Article 43(4) of the Constitution clearly states that if the Prime Minister “ceases to command the majority of the members of parliament”, then unless the Agong dissolves Parliament, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet have no choice but to resign. “Since the word ‘ceases to command’ shows that MPs can vote out the current PM, how is that in belittling of the Agong?”,” she questioned. The Parliament was originally scheduled to open on March 9, but was postponed to May 18 2020 by the PN Government in a move to avoid any possibility of their legitimacy being challenged in the Parliament. “The fact that the motion to table a no confidence vote was accepted by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Mohamed Ariff Mohd Yusoff, a respected and learned judge, demonstrates that such a move is well within the Constitution,” she said.