Malaysian parliament to meet from Jul 26 to pave the way for hybrid sitting: Prime minister's office
A general view of Malaysia's parliament issued by the Department of Information AFP/KHIRUL NIZAM ZANIL
KUALA LUMPUR: A special parliament meeting will be held from Jul 26 to pave the way for a hybrid parliament sitting, Malaysia's Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.
In a statement uploaded on Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's Facebook page on Monday (Jul 5), the PMO said the House of Representatives will sit for five days from Jul 26 to Jul 29 and Aug 2, while the Senate will sit from Aug 3 to Aug 5.
"This meeting aims at explaining the National Recovery Plan to all members of parliament and to amend all legislation and rules to enable a hybrid parliament sitting."
“Based on Article 150 (3) of the Federal Constitution (which concerns the proclamation of an Emergency), all emergency proclamations and ordinances made by His Majesty shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament,” according to the statement.
The sitting will be held according to standard operating procedures determined by the National Security Council and Malaysia’s Health Ministry, the PMO stated.
The king first declared a state of emergency on Jan 12 to curb the spread of COVID-19. The emergency was scheduled to last until Aug 1 or earlier depending on the state of coronavirus infections.
Since it was declared, federal parliamentary sessions and state legislative assemblies have not sat.
Last month, the king held a series of meetings with the leaders of the political parties, followed by a special meeting of Malay rulers.
The national palace issued a statement expressing the king's view that it was not necessary to extend Malaysia's current state of emergency beyond Aug 1, and that parliament should reconvene as soon as possible.
This was later followed by a joint statement by all the Malay rulers which also called for the federal parliament and state legislatures to convene at the earliest possible instance.
On Jun 25, the heads of Malaysia's Upper and Lower Houses suggested that a hybrid parliament meeting could be held at the end of August or the first week of September.
Should all legal issues be ironed out by the end of July, a special parliament meeting could be held in early August to approve the measures of a hybrid parliament meeting, they said then.
Last week, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Takiyuddin Hassan said that parliament will be reconvened before Aug 1.
BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments
Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
