The Prime Minister has announced that Members of Parliament are eligible to be vaccinated against Covid-19 during the first stage later this month.
As an MP, I am grateful for this. Personally, I would have preferred for other frontliners like healthcare workers, police officers and teachers to receive the vaccine first but I also understand that we have a responsibility to persuade sceptics amongst the public in order to increase uptake.
Vaccinating our MPs also means the government do not have any excuse to continue with the Emergency and suspension of Parliament. After all, almost all sectors of the economy have been opened.
The same principle should be applied to Parliament, where we can meet to discuss matters of the Rakyat whilst adhering to the strict SOPs as we did before.
The most important part of our duties as elected representatives is to represent our constituents in Parliament by bringing up the issues they are facing on the ground and ensuring that legislation is appropriately debated and passed.
NIK NAZMI NIK AHMAD
KEADILAN CHIEF ORGANISING SECRETARY
SETIAWANGSA MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
