IPOH, Oct 26 — The decision to hold a one-day state assembly sitting is merely to fulfil a quota and will not to help the people or revitalise the economy, said Simpang Pulai assemblyman Tan Kar Hing.
Tan said the state legislature, which reconvenes tomorrow, will not have enough time to debate the important issues faced by the people.
“If it’s true that the current administration under the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition wishes to help the people and improve the economy, which is badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, then the state assembly sitting should be carried out properly,” he told a press conference at the State Secretariat Building here.
“However, looking at the one-day sitting, it’s merely like they want to fulfil the quota of having the session six months once,” he added.
Following this, Tan also said that the state Budget is expected to be delayed until the end of November or early December.
“The Perak government should instead follow other states, who did not wait for the federal government to debate the Budget first, such as Selangor and Penang.
“They have already debated their Budgets, but Perak is only going to have its state assembly tomorrow. The Budget is important and people are suffering due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Help needs to reach the public fast,” he said.
Tan also said these are among the weaknesses of the current state government who can’t expedite the process of announcing policy and economy stimulus packages.
Last Friday, the newly appointed Perak Legislative Assembly Speaker Datuk Mohammad Zahir Abdul Kalid said that the state legislature will reconvene for one day on October 27 as the country battles Covid-19.
He said all assemblymen, department chiefs, assembly administrators and journalists who will be attending the one-day sitting will be required to take a Covid-19 test three days prior.
He added that press conferences can only be held at the designated press conference room during the sitting even as he said media coverage is limited to official media only.
Meanwhile, Changkat Jering assemblyman Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin urged the state government led by Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu to approve an allocation to help the people under every constituency in the state, including those led by Opposition, fairly.
“People under Opposition constituencies need a lot of help, especially with festivals, such as Deepavali and Christmas, coming up.
“Many have lost their jobs and parents need to fork out money when the children go back to school next year. So a proper fund needs to be allocated to all state assemblymen so that they can help the people via their service centres,” he explained.
Separately, State Opposition leader Abdul Aziz Bari said that while respecting the decree of Yang di-Pertuan Agong to not engage in politicking that could affect the stability of the government, he said that Opposition leaders will carry out their duties according to the rule of law.
“Therefore, not all activities and actions taken by us should be considered as ‘extreme’ or ‘negative’ politicking,” he said.
