First parliamentary session under PM Ismail to begin

The first meeting of the fourth term of the 14th Parliament will begin today with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah opening the session.

This is the first parliamentary session under the government led by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

According to the Order of the Meeting on Parliament’s official website, today’s sitting of the Dewan Rakyat will focus on the speech by Sultan Abdullah.

Based on the calendar of the Dewan Rakyat meeting, this session will be for 17 days until Oct 12.

Meanwhile, the Dewan Negara sitting, to be opened simultaneously with the Dewan Rakyat sitting, will take place from October 4 to 26.

To reduce the risk of Covid-19 infection in the Parliament building, Dewan Rakyat speaker Azhar Harun said various initiatives had been carried out, including the installation of ultra violet air filters in the main hall of Parliament and the use of nanotechnology in the office to kill bacteria and viruses.

The health ministry also carried out RT-PCR screening tests on all staff and those attending the meeting, involving 1,801 individuals, on Sept 10 and 11.

Yesterday, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 26 of the individuals who underwent the screening test were found to be positive for Covid-19: a senator and 25 parliamentary staff.