KUALA LUMPUR – Less than two weeks before the Dewan Rakyat convenes for its five-day special sitting, MPs are still in the dark over the order of business for the lower house.
Several Pakatan Harapan (PH) lawmakers expressed their bemusement at the delay in issuing a notice to the representatives, which is typically done 28 days before the commencement of each session, as per the Dewan Rakyat Standing Order.
While a special sitting allows Parliament to forgo the 28-day notice requirement, the continued delaying is causing inconvenience to MPs, who are yet to be able to make any sort of preparation or arrangement.
“It has been eight days since the July 5 statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office that the session will take place from July 26 to August 2. It’s quite interesting that so far, MPs have yet to be notified,” Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil told The Vibes today.
“This notice will stipulate what days the House will be in session, and from there, MPs can make arrangements like informing their offices and notifying their constituencies.
“Given the special nature of this session, of course Parliament can just give notice even a day before. But that won’t do justice for MPs, especially those from Sabah and Sarawak, in the interest of ensuring maximum attendance.”
Fahmi questioned if the Dewan Rakyat speaker and secretary, which are responsible for issuing the notifications to MPs, have similarly yet to be notified by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on the month-end sitting.
If true, the PKR communications director said this is especially peculiar as the speaker would traditionally be informed of a date first before any announcement is made about the reconvening.
“Here, it seems the prime minister made the announcement but has not taken the necessary administrative steps. The question is why would he issue the July 5 statement without prior notification to the speaker? What’s going on?”
Fahmi said he sees no reason for an official notice to be issued to MPs and questioned if there are negotiations taking place behind the scenes on the order of business of the sitting.
DAP’s Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng, told The Vibes, said there is a big question mark on the legality and constitutionality of whether the government abided by all parliamentary requirements for the coming sitting.
Asked if PH will be legally challenging the matter, he said: “We are not sure what they (the government) are up to when the House reconvenes, we have to wait and see.”
Lim said the delay in issuing the notice also provided further evidence that there is unlikely to be any room for MPs to question or debate issues of public interest.
He added that typically upon receiving the notice 28 days before the sitting, lawmakers will be allowed to pose their questions to the respective ministries at least three weeks prior to the reconvening.
In a series of tweets, Johor Baru MP Akmal Nasir urged Muhyiddin to ensure Parliament is able to convene in the best possible manner, while noting the lack of notice to date.
“Before each sitting, MPs will be asked to forward their questions to the ministers. This time, we are not asked to do so. Are MPs not allowed to ask anything?” the PKR Youth chief said. – The Vibes, July 13, 2021
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