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KUALA LUMPUR – Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah is scheduled to officiate the opening of the first meeting of the second term of the 15th Parliament this Monday, the second under the government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The first Dewan Rakyat sitting under the unity government held on December 19 for two days saw a motion of confidence tabled to determine the legitimacy of Anwar’s appointment as the 10th prime minister, as well as a mini budget.
According to the calendar on the Parliament website, the highlights of the sitting, which will last for 29 days until March 30, include the debate on the royal address from February 15 to 21, as well as Anwar’s retabling of the Supply Bill 2023 next Friday.
The bill will then be debated at the policy level for six days starting on Feb 27, after which two days (March 8 to 9) will be given for the ministers to reply before it is debated at the committee level from March 13 to 28.
Anwar, whos is also the finance minister, was reported to have said when addressing the Finance Ministry’s monthly assembly on February 8 that Budget 2023 would take into account current economic challenges, drive the country’s growth, and attract investments.
Also expected to steal attention is the tabling of a white paper on the procurement of the Covid-19 vaccine, which was found to have contravened procedures.
In addition, a white paper on Pulau Batu Puteh is also expected to be tabled at this Parliament session for further action.
The coming Dewan Rakyat sitting will also see the implementation of the reform agenda, including a prime minister’s question-and-answer session which will be carried out as a pilot test every Tuesday beginning February 13.
In a recent interview with Bernama, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Johari Abdul said that the session was to enable the prime minister to answer questions addressed to him.
He said the introduction of the session will require amendments to the Standing Order of the Dewan Rakyat before it can be made a regular session of the Dewan Rakyat.
According to Johari, the special chamber session will also be improved by increasing the number of motions from two to four per session. – Bernama, February 11, 2023
