A letter of notice for the one-day sitting of Parliament on May 18 now only has a single agenda - the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s opening address - which ultimately slams the door shut on any no-confidence motion against the government of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof issued a statement today saying that he had received a letter from Muhyiddin in his capacity as Leader of the House saying that due to the continuing Covid-19 outbreak in the country, the Dewan Rakyat will only convene for the Agong's opening speech at 10am and that the sitting would end immediately after that.
In an earlier version of the notice for this parliamentary sitting addressed to MPs by Parliament secretary Riduan Rahmat and sighted by Malaysiakini, the agenda indicated that there would be room for discussion of bills and other matters of government after the Agong’s speech and departure.
The earlier version also indicated that the Dewan Negara would also convene, albeit only for the Agong's address.
This change to the agenda means that there is no room for any motions either by Muhyiddin's government or the opposition.
May 18 marks the first Dewan Rakyat sitting since the “Sheraton Move” political coup triggered a change in government with the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan administration led by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Muhyiddin's government had originally been planning to table four motions and two bills during the one-day sitting.
Harapan has persistently called for the sitting to be extended with former minister Liew Vui Keong submitting an emergency motion to extend it to eight days, but PN contended that prolonging the gathering of MPs could pose a Covid-19 contagion risk.
Mahathir had also successfully filed a no-confidence motion against Muhyiddin which was accepted by Ariff but de facto Parliament and law minister Takiyuddin Hassan had stressed that only government matters would be prioritised during the one-day sitting.
In an immediate response, DAP's Seputeh MP Teresa Kok said this showed that Muhyiddin was “too worried” to have a parliamentary sitting.
"He is scared to face Harapan in parliament and he is also afraid of the motion of no-confidence presented by Mahathir," she said.
"Malaysia has become the only country in which a new government has spent an enormous sum on an economic stimulus package to combat the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak without it being approved by Parliament.
"PN has become a government which is afraid to call for a proper Parliament sitting," she added. - Mkini
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