Kit Siang: Time running out for PM Muhyiddin to reconvene Parliament

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — DAP veteran lawmaker Lim Kit Siang today urged Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to call for Parliament to convene again as soon as possible to avoid a potential constitutional crisis. 

In a statement today, Lim explained that Muhyiddin has less than a month to call for an emergency Cabinet meeting to comply with the Parliament’s standing order before convening a parliamentary session. 

“Time is closing in for the Muhyiddin government to call for an emergency Cabinet meeting to comply with the Dewan Rakyat Standing Orders with the requisite 28 days’ notice and to convene Parliament on July 19, 2021, and avoid any constitutional crisis in the country. 

“The Dewan Rakyat Standing Orders provide that the Prime Minister will decide, at least 28 days in advance, when the Dewan Rakyat should meet, which means that tomorrow Sunday 20th June 2021 is the deadline for the Prime Minister to convene Parliament on July 19 and comply with the Dewan Rakyat Standing Orders on the 28 days’ requisite notice,’’ said Lim. 

Lim’s statement today is in tandem with a chorus of calls by other lawmakers, including Umno President Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for Parliament to reconvene as soon as possible and for the state of Emergency not to be extended beyond August 1. 

Taking a swipe at Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan’s alleged comments in regards to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s call for Parliament to convene as soon as possible (ASAP), Lim stated that further debate on the matter could only drive to dive Malaysians further. 

“It must have shocked the world, just as it had shocked Malaysians, that the Yang di Pertuan Agong’s decree that the suspended Parliament ought to be reconvened “as soon as possible” to allow MPs to debate the emergency laws and the national recovery plan could be a subject of contention. 

“From the statements of the PAS Ministers, they have taken a position that the Yang di Pertuan Agong’s decree is in line with the Muhyiddin government’s stand that Parliament could be convened in September or October under Phase Three of the National Recovery Plan,’’ said Lim. 

“The Prime Minister should not tarry and delay but should immediately hold an emergency Cabinet meeting to convene Parliament on July 19 for the country to start anew and unite Malaysians to win the war against Covid-19 pandemic,” he said. 

On June 17, Takiyuddin, who is a federal minister from PAS, stated while the government noted the decree of the Agong for Parliament to reconvene “as soon as possible”, however, the King did not explicitly mention a date for when Parliament should reopen again.