Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun only needs to issue a notice of up to 28 days to all MPs for Parliament to reconvene, says Nga Kor Ming.
The Teluk Intan MP said Article 11 of the Dewan Rakyat’s Standing Orders stipulates that the notice period to convene Parliament should not be more than 28 days.
He said it was shocking to see Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun and Dewan Negara president Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim issued a joint statement stating that they needed time to study the mechanism to reconvene Parliament sitting, with the latest date to be in early September.
“If the hybrid Parliament meeting is to be held on Sept 1, it would be 75 days after Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Mustafa Billah Shah made his opinion to reconvene Parliament ‘as soon as possible’ known.
“On what basis do the people of Malaysia have to wait another 75 days just to reconvene Parliament?” he asked in a statement Saturday (June 26).
Hence, said Nga, the “hybrid” Parliament committee meetings would cause unnecessary delays.
“It is obvious the Perikatan Nasional government is suffering a case of ‘Parliament phobia’,” said Nga.
In a joint statement on Friday (June 25), Azhar and Rais said a special Parliament sitting in August will be needed to debate and approve measures to hold a hybrid Parliament meeting.
The hybrid meeting is expected to be held in late August or the first week of September.
Nga, who is the former Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker, also said he has received an oral invitation from Azhar to attend a special committee meeting on July 5.
“I will bring the voice of the people and request Parliament to be reconvened before the Emergency ends on Aug 1 so that the proclamation of Emergency and Emergency Ordinance can be debated pursuant to Article 150(3) of the Federal constitution,” he said.
Nga is Harapan’s sole representative on the committee.
It is uncertain if any other opposition MPs are being represented.