Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Mohd Rashid Hasnon has received a ‘reminder’ from his parliamentary colleague Azalina Othman Said last night regarding a letter that he may have missed.
This came after Rashid claimed to be unaware of a letter from Istana Negara asking House speaker Azhar Azizan Harun to confirm the number of MPs who still support Pagoh MP Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister.
In a tweet last night, Azalina - who is also a deputy speaker at the Dewan Rakyat - said a copy of the letter had also been sent to her and Rashid.
“The letter dated Aug 9, 2021 and copied to us both, have you read it Rashid?” she said on Twitter last night.
She included a screenshot from the news portal The Vibes’s Twitter account, which quoted Rashid claiming, “There has not been precedent where the Agong would directly communicate with the speaker on parliamentary affairs.”
Yesterday, Malaysiakini reported that Comptroller of the Royal Household Ahmad Fadhli Shamsuddin had sent a letter on Aug 9 asking Azhar to confirm the support for Muhyiddin.
Responding to the Malaysiakini report, Rashid had reportedly told The Vibes that he is uncertain whether Azhar had received such a letter.
He also asserted that if there was such a letter, it would mark a departure from the long-standing practice where the prime minister, not the speaker, reports parliamentary affairs to the king.
“There has not been any precedent where the Agong would directly communicate with the speaker on parliamentary affairs.
“That is why I have to ask about this report claiming as such, because how can His Majesty direct his questions to the Yang di-Pertua (speaker).
“According to procedure, when Parliament is in session, whatever happens inside the Dewan, the leader of the House (prime minister) will report to the Agong himself, including on his majority support.
“This doesn’t come from the speaker. It cannot. That is the procedure,” he was quoted as saying.
However, Azalina countered Rashid’s claim and pointed out that she, Rashid and Azhar had a meeting with the king on June 29, and attached a photo from that meeting in her tweet.
“YB, didn’t we meet the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as a group on June 29?” she said.
The two deputy speakers apparently do not see eye to eye on the matter.
Series of meetings
Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah had previously called for meetings with the speaker and the two deputy speakers of the Dewan Rakyat, as well as the Dewan Negara president and deputy president, on June 29.
This followed a series of meetings between the king and political leaders of major parties from June 9 and June 15, regarding the Covid-19 situation in the country and the state of emergency that was in force at the time.
After meeting the heads of both houses of parliament, the palace issued a statement on the same day reiterating its call that Parliament should reconvene “as soon as possible”. - Mkini
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