Penang weighs options on reconvening state assembly

 

The Penang government is considering its options to hold the state legislative assembly sitting and will make a final decision at the next state executive council meeting, said Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.

He said one of the options is to hold the state assembly sitting before Aug 1, which is the scheduled end of the emergency, after getting the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

"(We are considering) holding a special sitting of the assembly in August when the Emergency Ordinance has ended without the need for a 28-day notice or convene the sitting with an official opening by the Yang di-Pertua Negeri in August or September subject to (issuance of) a 28-day notice,” he said in a statement today.

Chow said the state government would monitor the latest developments and make the appropriate decision.

Meanwhile, Penang State Assembly Speaker Law Choo Kiang said the state assembly was prepared to reconvene.

"We are ready to meet but have yet to decide whether it will be a hybrid or physical meeting because we have to consider the Covid-19 pandemic factor and advice from the National Security Council (NSC),” he said when contacted today.

He said if a face-to-face meeting was allowed, they would decide where the session could be held with adherence to the standard operating procedure (SOP) to curb the spread of Covid-19.

On April 23, Law wrote to the NSC director-general and the Prime Minister’s Department for permission to hold the first sitting of the fourth session of the 14th Penang state legislative assembly during the emergency period but the application was rejected because Covid-19 cases nationwide were still at a worrying level then.

The Penang government held an informal engagement session at a hotel here on March 29 and 30 in place of the state assembly sitting which could not be held during the emergency period.

- Bernama