King’s ‘ASAP’ does not mean ‘in a few months’, says Zahid

 

The repost by Istana Negara today which included the King’s statement that he wanted Parliament to reconvene as soon as possible.

PETALING JAYA: The King’s call for Parliament to reconvene “as soon as possible” does not mean “in a few months’ time”, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.

In a Facebook post, he acknowledged that “as soon as possible” was subjective and did not denote a specific time frame.

“If a teacher tells a student to open a textbook as soon as possible, that means several seconds. If a teacher asks a student to complete their homework as soon as possible, that means several days.

“Generally, if something is easily done, then a period of several seconds, minutes, hours or days is ‘as soon as possible’. If it’s something difficult, then a period of several weeks, months or years may be interpreted as ‘as soon as possible’.

“For Parliament sittings, it’s something easily implemented, whether physically or virtually. Hence, the decree for Parliament to sit ‘as soon as possible’ should not be interpreted as several months,” he said.

On Wednesday, Istana Negara announced that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, wanted Parliament to reconvene as soon as possible.

In a Facebook post today, Istana Negara had reposted the segment of the King’s statement where he said he wanted Parliament to reconvene as soon as possible.

The Conference of Rulers have agreed with the King’s stand and also called for the respective state assemblies to reconvene soon.

In response to the King’s statement, de facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan said the King had not set a firm date when he made the decree, adding that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had already said Parliament would sit in September or October.

This was echoed by senior minister for economy Azmin Ali who said the King’s statement was in line with the government’s plans to do so when the time was right.

Takiyuddin is being probed by police over comments made about the King’s call for Parliament to be reconvened, Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani confirmed today, after several reports were lodged against the PAS leader. - FMT