The Malaysian Insight

EMBATTLED Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has ordered Parliament to be adjourned to a later date because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The notice was sent by Dewan Rakyat secretary Nizam Mydin Bacha Mydin to MPs today.

In the notice, Nizam said Muhyiddin has ordered the Monday meeting to be adjourned in accordance to Standing Orders 11(3).

“This adjournment is in line with director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah’s suggestion based on several cases detected in Parliament last week,” he said.

The adjournment comes after Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) government was rebuked by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for failing to table the emergency ordinances in Parliament for debate.

The king also singled out Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Takiyuddin Hassan and Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun’s brother Idrus, who is the attorney-general, for misleading Parliament on July 26.

On that date, Takiyuddin revealed to shocked MPs that the emergency ordinances had been revoked by the cabinet on July 21 and, therefore, there was no necessity for debate

The PAS MP for Kota Bharu said he would give a full explanation at Monday’s meeting.

The postponement of Monday’s meeting will now leave the situation concerning the ordinances unresolved as the king has said he will not assent to the revocation unless the ordinances are brought before both houses of Parliament for debate.

The government, however, is insisting that its move to cancel the ordinances without following the king’s orders that they be debated first, is lawful as the king is a constitutional monarch.

Earlier today, Pakatan Harapan (PH) urged the PN government not to use the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse to stop Parliament from meeting on Monday.

“If Parliament is closed with an infection rate of less than 1%, Parliament is unlikely to sit again,” said the opposition in a statement today.

PH said Parliament was already adjourned four times on Thursday, following the king’s rebuke.

“One of the excuses used to adjourn Parliament was the spread of Covid-19 in Parliament,” it said.

“But after 1,183 tests on Thursday, there were only 11 positives or 0.9%. As the WHO’s (World Health Organization) threshold is 5%, this is not significant for Parliament, which had already met for a week.” – July 31, 2021.