PM postponing Parliament in accordance to House rules - speaker's aide

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's move to postpone a Parliament sitting to May 18 is in accordance with the Dewan Rakyat's Standing Orders, said a House officer.

Wan Anwar Wan Ibrahim, who is the special functions officer to the Dewan Rakyat speaker, said a lawyer's claim that the premier needed to give a minimum 28 days notice before postponing a House session was inaccurate.

He is believed to be responding to Suaram legal advisor Amir Abdu Hadi who was cited by online portal The Leaders as saying such notice needed to be given in accordance with Standing Orders 11(3).

However, Wan Anwar pointed out that the Standing Orders 11(3) is about calling an emergency sitting before the Dewan Rakyat is supposed to convene, which does not require 28 days notice.

A 28-day notice is required under Order 11(2), but Wan Anwar said this is a rule stipulating that MPs must be notified in advance before the House convenes.

11(2) also provides that the leader or deputy leader of the Dewan Rakyat, that is the prime minister and his deputy, "may vary from time to time the dates so fixed".

This means the prime minister can change the date of the House session, as long as lawmakers are given 28 days notice before the first sitting.

"So the conclusion of the lawyer's view regarding this issue, in my view is misleading and must be corrected," Wan Anwar said.

Parliament was supposed to convene next Monday before the new government prorogued it to May 18.

This comes amid calls for there to be a motion of confidence in Parliament, to test whether Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has majority support of the lower house.

DAP's Ramkarpal Singh also said that other government business can be postponed to May, but that an urgent sitting should be called to determine who has majority support.

Both Harapan and Muhyiddin claim to be in control of the Dewan Rakyat.

Article 43(4) of the Federal Constitution states that when a prime minister loses majority support in the Dewan Rakyat, he must tender his resignation unless the Agong then decides to dissolve Parliament. - Mkini