Let opposition politicians enter schools, govt offices, PN MP says

An MP from Perikatan Nasional today spoke out against the practice of prohibiting politicians from the opposition from attending events at government offices, schools, suraus or mosques, describing it as outdated and not in sync with the spirit of consensus and fairness.
 
Jerantut MP Khairil Nizam Khirudin said his experience in his constituency was that programmes such as visits to government offices were often rejected. 

"There are unwritten orders prohibiting these, even though we have finished with campaign periods and the general election," he said when debating the motion of thanks on the royal address.

"The people are not from Umno, PAS, Bersatu or DAP. We are all citizens of Malaysia." 

Bakri MP Tan Hong Pin then questioned the motive behind visits to schools and government offices. 

"Are they political in nature or otherwise?" Tan asked. 

Khairil answered that invitations were made by school authorities for donation purposes.

"If we want to visit other people, permission must be given," he said. 

"The schools already gave their permission for us to visit, but in the end, we were not allowed and it was cancelled." 

Khairil said the country would make no political progress if the government maintained what he described as the attitude of the opposition, adding that cooperation would be needed between both sides to face the economic challenges expected this year.