KUALA LUMPUR: Three Members of Parliament placed under the Home Surveillance Order (HSO) could attend the Dewan Rakyat sitting, here, today by strictly adhering to the standard operating procedure (SOP) including wearing personal protective equipment (PPE).
Dewan Rakyat Speaker, Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun said in such cases, the MPs would first be taken in an ambulance and upon arrival at Parliament, would be placed in a special room.
“I understand that this morning, three MPs asked for permission to come (to Parliament). If they wish to vote, they should wear PPE and enter through the Dewan Rakyat Public Gallery door.
“Votes would be taken from them and the enumerator and observer would have to wear a face shield,” he said after Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen (PH-Bandar Kuching) raised the issue of the presence MPs undergoing quarantine attending the Dewan Rakyat sitting.
Azhar said after voting, the MPs involved should leave the Public Gallery to limit exposure to others in Parliament.
The Speaker said he was not altering the SOP but the adherence was determined by the Ministry of Health and its director-general (DG), Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
“I needed to seek permission from the Health DG if they (the three MPs) could be allowed in by following the SOP that was set by him, not by me,” he added.
Azhar opined that the matter needed to be regularised so that the MPs comply with the order made.
The media today reported that the three MPs involved were Health Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba; Human Resource Minister, Datuk Seri M Saravanan and P Prabakaran (PH-Batu).
Earlier the presence of three members of Parliament who are undergoing HSO in the Dewan had sparked off a protest by opposition MPs during a bloc vote of the 2021 Supply Bill for the Ministry of Federal Territories at committee level. – Bernama
