KUALA LUMPUR: If this year's PKR Congress can be done 100 per cent on a virtual platform, there is no excuse for the government to avoid reconvening the parliament immediately.
PKR Youth chief Akmal Nasir said various methods can be used by the Dewan Rakyat to hold this year's sitting so that the debates and voting sessions can be held smoothly.
"If the government can come up with Covid-19 standard operating procedure (SOP) for 32 million Malaysians, how can it not do the same for only 1,000 people who will be involved in parliament proceedings?
"Yesterday, PKR's women wing held its congress virtually, today the youth wing is doing the same and tomorrow, the PKR national congress, too, will hold its meeting online.
"We have been giving speeches, debating and even called for votes. We've proved that these things can be done, so what is the government waiting for?" he said in his winding-up speech during the PKR youth congress today, which was aired on Facebook Live.
In the speech, Akmal also slammed the government for its handling of the current Covid-19 outbreak while questioning whether Malaysia is on the right track to recovery from this pandemic.
He said with many investors now fleeing to neighbouring countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam, the public's concern over the country's ability to recover should be addressed.
"Some says this is normal because we are facing a pandemic but my question is, how come Indonesia can attract new foreign investors during the same pandemic?
"The people's anger is real. The vaccination process is slow and last year, due to the government's desire to capture Sabah, it held a state election and now, we are still seeing an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases."
On the rise in unemployment among the youth, Akmal urged the government to allow an interest-free moratorium for a minimum of five months to all small-holders as well as reintroduce the wage subsidy programme.
Commenting on the 15th General Election (GE15), Akmal called on the PKR leadership to field more youth in its line-up while ensuring that all GE15 candidates consist of those who are loyal to the party.
The Johor Baru member of parliament also proposed for the age limit to enter the PKR youth wing to be lowered from 18 to 16 years old.
"The process of choosing GE15 candidate must be more strict because we don't want any more traitors among us.
"At the same time, the youth wing is also proposing for the age limit to be lowered to 16 because we need to listen to our youth.
"Although the younger generation is critical in their views, we must listen because they don't dilly-dally," he said.