05-27-2021, 12:25 PM
![[Image: Azalina-Othman-Said-270521.jpg]](https://s3media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Azalina-Othman-Said-270521.jpg)
PETALING JAYA: The government can lock down its people, but it must not lock down democracy, says Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Azalina Othman Said.
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.
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