KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — Echoing similar calls by Opposition lawmakers for the next Parliamentary sitting to be extended beyond a single day, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang today motioned for virtual meetings to be held among parliamentarians.

Lim, who called the government’s decision to set the next Parliament sitting for just one day as "shocking and undemocratic”, said the government should first recategorise Parliament as an essential service to allow for a full-fledged sitting.

"The Standing Orders Committee of Dewan Rakyat should meet urgently to prepare Parliament and the various Select Committees to enter the Internet era by holding "virtual” meetings,” he said in a statement today.

Lim questioned why Malaysia was still lagging behind in the adoption of virtual alternatives despite the existence of the Multimedia Super Corridor, which was launched 25 years ago to propel the nation into the digital information age.

"If we had accomplished this objective, Malaysia will be leading the world in digital Parliament instead of being a laggard in the information age,” he said.

He said inroads must be taken to emulate the UK House of Commons, which is set to convene later today in a hybrid setting with several MPs physically present and the rest attending through Zoom video conferencing.

"With the shocking increase of Covid-19 cases and deaths in the United Kingdom, can the prime minister, the minister in charge of parliamentary affairs or any Cabinet minister for that matter explain why Parliament in Malaysia, with 5,425 Covid-19 cases and 92 deaths is meeting for only one day on May 18?

"When the Parliament in UK, which has now 129,044 Covid-19 cases — about 24 times more than that of Malaysia — and 17,337 deaths — 188 times more than that of Malaysia — and have not reached the peak of the curve, is inactive session with digital parliamentary proceedings to carry out the important task of government scrutiny?” Lim questioned through his statement.

He then called on Parliament’s Standing Order Committee to take the necessary steps to allow a virtual sitting to take place, before adding how a tacit endorsement of the one-day sitting would amounts to them displaying "no notion, regard or respect for the democratic idea and the importance and role of parliamentary democracy”.

Lim then pushed for the government to hold meetings with Opposition lawmakers to reach an agreement to have virtual parliamentary meetings and for the session to last at least 10 days.

This comes after it was announced that the upcoming Parliament sitting, slated for May 18, would last for only one day with the agenda only involving the Agong’s opening address and no debates.