Azalina said denying the rights of MPs to engage with the government meant denying the rights of the people.

In a statement, she called for the government to invest in holding a virtual Parliament during the emergency, saying there was no way for the country to move forward unless Parliament was allowed to reconvene.

She also said that she recently “had a chat” with health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, who had “no objection to Parliament reconvening virtually”.

“We have already suffered enough trade-offs by compromising basic democratic and individual rights for the sake of a public health crisis,” she said.

Azalina also said any public mistrust must be handled through public debate, as building the people’s confidence during this time was essential in keeping everyone safe.

To address the trust deficit surrounding Covid-19 policies, she said, all MPs should be mobilised as “agents of communication and public health information disseminators” to help the government.

She said her statement was issued out of frustration at the lack of response from attorney-general Idrus Harun and law minister Takiyuddin Hassan on the suspension of Parliament.

The suspension seemed to have crippled the government’s capacity to respond to valid concerns, she quipped.

To minimise the risk of Covid-19 in physical proceedings, Azalina suggested for all parliamentary staff to be vaccinated and for a quorum to be enforced.

She also called for an emergency ordinance that allowed Parliament to reconvene, but without motions of confidence to be heard.

“Until and unless the pandemic is controlled and herd immunity of at least 50% is achieved, no general election should be held but, instead, an interim emergency government with an emergency Cabinet be formed, with representation from all political parties.”

She also said special select committees should be utilised as an alternative tool to promote executive accountability and transparency.

Covid-19 funds should be allocated for each constituency, she said, while MPs should be granted permission to travel and visit their constituencies for work.

“Government know-all attitude must stop.” Azalina said. “Given that Covid-19 is here to stay for years to come, we cannot afford to be in a state of emergency forever.”

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