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PM officially notifies Dewan speaker of July 26 sitting

Next, MPs will be notified of the dates to attend Dewan Rakyat.

MalaysiaNow
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Dewan Rakyat sittings have been suspended since January under the state of emergency. Photo: Bernama
Dewan Rakyat sittings have been suspended since January under the state of emergency. Photo: Bernama

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has officially notified Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Harun to convene the special sitting proposed for July 26, paving the way for the first parliamentary debate among MPs since the last sitting in December.

The matter was confirmed to MalaysiaNow by Azhar today, more than a week after the government said it would advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on a five-day sitting of the Dewan Rakyat and three-day sitting of the Dewan Negara.

Azhar said following the notice, he had instructed the Dewan Rakyat secretary to notify MPs to be present.

He earlier told MalaysiaNow that all proceedings will be subject to “very strict” health SOPs in view of several Covid-19 cases detected in the Parliament building.

Parliament and state assemblies have been suspended since a virus emergency came into force in January, giving authorities wide powers to undertake measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.

Under Putrajaya’s National Recovery Plan, its exit plan for the Covid-19 crisis to gradually allow the resumption of daily activities, parliamentary sittings were to convene some time in September alongside an expected increase in the number of fully vaccinated people, subject to the virus situation.

In several statements from the palace, however, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong urged for Parliament to reconvene “as soon as possible”, following a series of meetings with political leaders from both sides of the divide.