KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 — The federal government must urgently reconvene Parliament following the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s recommendation for the legislature to meet at the earliest opportunity, the Pakatan Harapan presidential council said today.
The council said the failure to heed the Agong’s recommendation would cast doubt on the federal administration’s ability to continue leading the nation.
Parliament must be reconvened so that it could serve as a check-and-balance to the federal administration and for lawmakers to discuss matters such as the Emergency Ordinances, the National Recovery Plan, and government spending to ensure these had Malaysians’ interest at their core, the council said.
“As such, it is patent that the prime minister must uphold His Majesty’s advice to convene a parliamentary meeting as soon as possible,” it said.
While it is the Agong that convenes Parliament, it is the prime minister who must advise him on when to do so.
The PH presidential council said that refusing to reconvene Parliament following the Agong’s advice yesterday would suggest that the federal administration was no longer fit to continue governing the country.
After a special meeting of the Conference of Malay Rulers yesterday, Istana Negara issued a statement to say that Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al- Mustafa Billah Shah was of the view that Parliament should meet as soon as possible.
The federal legislature last met in November for the tabling of Budget 2021; it had been scheduled to meet again in March this year but this was preempted by the proclamation of Emergency in January.
After the Agong’s remarks, however, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan argued that Al-Sultan only said Parliament should meet but did not specify when.
Takiyuddin sought to interpret this as tacit approval for the government’s proposal to reconvene Parliament in September at the earliest.
Aside from the Agong’s recommendation for Parliament to meet, Malay Rulers also decreed that the Emergency should not be extended past its August 1 deadline.
