Validity of May 18 parliament sitting can be challenged in court - lawyer

The validity of one-day Dewan Rakyat sitting that has been shortened to exclude any debate session may be challenged in court, says lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla.

In a statement, he pointed out that the last parliament sitting was held on Dec 5, 2019, and thus the next one must be held within six-month, which falls by this June 5, as required under the House's rules.

"The Dewan Rakyat sitting that is stipulated in the Federal Constitution is, of course, a real assembly that involves debates, and question and answer sessions by the 222 members of Parliament who were voted in during the 14th general election.

"Thus, with only the opening speech by His Royal Highness Yang di-Pertuan Agong on agenda, without it being debated by any member of the Dewan Rakyat, it can be challenged in court later that there was no actual parliament sitting that took place this May 18.

"And this would expose the Speaker, Mohamad Ariff Mohd Yusoff, to a risk that (it would be declared) that there was no valid parliament sitting that was held within six months from Dec 5, 2019," said Haniff (photo, above).

For the record, Haniff is known to have represented high profile clients in political cases, including former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad who is now pushing for the parliament sitting to be held in full. The latter had recently filed a motion notice for a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Haniff cited that under the country's law, failure to hold a Dewan Rakyat sitting within a six-month period would result in the automatic dissolution of the 14th Parliament.

"This would put the country at risk of having to hold the 15th General Election immediately after that, despite we have yet to be fully out of the Covid-19 situation."

Dewan Rakyat was initially scheduled to convene on March 9 for its first session for this year, but the date was postponed after Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn in as prime minister following the political manoeuvres of the "Sheraton Move".

Last month, the Dewan Rakyat issued another notice that the sitting, which was rescheduled to May 18, would only be held for one-day due to fear of Covid-19. Before this, the sitting was set to take place for 15 days between May 18 and June 23.

The one-day sitting was further shortened to only have a single item on its agenda - the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s opening address - which ultimately slams the door shut on any no-confidence motion against the Muhyiddin-led Perikatan Nasional government.

In a statement on May 13, Speaker of the House said 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 the sitting would end immediately after that. - Mkini