JULY 6 — Alas, Parliament will reconvene for a special sitting as announced by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in a statement issued yesterday.

According to the PMO statement, the special sitting will be for the purpose of explaining to members of Parliament (MPs) about the National Recovery Plan and amend all laws and regulations to allow for a hybrid proceeding to be held. https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2021/07/05/pmo-parliament-to-sit-on-july-26/1987343

The Dewan Rakyat will sit for five days from July 26 to July 29 and August 2, while the Dewan Negara will sit for three days from August 3 to August 5.

The sitting will be the Special Meeting of the Third Session of the Fourteenth Parliament (Mesyuarat Khas Penggal Ketiga Parlimen Keempat Belas). It will be the third Special Meeting of Parliament in recent years.

Two Special Meetings had been called by then prime minister Najib Razak under Standing Order 11(3). It was two days to debate a motion to decide on the participation of Malaysia in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) in 2016, while one day was allocated to debate the tragic downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in 2014.

A view of the assembly hall at the main Parliament building in Kuala Lumpur March 4, 2017. — Bernama pic

Now, it will be interesting how the Order Paper for the Special Meeting will look like, given that there will be the explaining of the National Recovery Plan (NRP), the amendments to the laws and regulations to allow for hybrid parliamentary proceedings and, importantly, the laying of the proclamation of Emergency and Emergency ordinances before the Dewan Rakyat.

The last is mandated by Article 150(3) of the Federal Constitution.

There are seven Emergency ordinances, namely (in order of promulgation):