July's Dewan Rakyat sitting: You watch out, warns Sri Gading MP

A Bersatu deputy minister in the Perikatan Nasional government has come forward to voice his disagreement over the absence of a debate session at the Dewan Rakyat sitting last month.

Shahruddin Mohd Salleh, who is deputy works minister, in a statement also warned the government to brace themselves when Parliament reconvenes.

"The date of May 18, 2020, has passed. The date for the Dewan Rakyat session for this term. The date which was very much feared by some, that it even caused them to lose their sleep.

"The sitting only saw the opening ceremony by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. There was no debate, no oral question-and-answer session. It was out of the ordinary. Maybe this is the new norm. Maybe out of fear for Covid-19.

"The Dewan Rakyat will resume this July, which is next month, if God permits. All of us MPs are waiting for this anxiously that is.

"Siap, jaga kau! (You watch out!)," he said in the statement.

The statement comes four days after Shahruddin was rumoured to be leaving the PN government together with a Bersatu cabinet member. The press conference last Friday during which they were purportedly going to announce their resignations, however, was cancelled.

While he did not specifically mention what his warning was about, it is understood that Shahruddin was referring to the vote of no-confidence being moved against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

The Dewan Rakyat was originally scheduled to sit for 15 days between May 18 and June 23 for its third session. It had adjourned its previous session on Dec 5 last year and was supposed to reconvene on March 9.

However, the March 9 sitting was postponed after Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn in as prime minister following the political manoeuvres of the "Sheraton Move".

In April, it was announced that the sitting would only be held for one day on May 18 due to a movement control order imposed by the government to break the chain of Covid-19 virus infection in the country.

Just five days before the sitting, it was again shortened to only have a single agenda, which is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s opening address.

This ultimately checkmated any no-confidence motion against the government of Muhyiddin. - Mkini