Dewan Rakyat to meet for two days

 

The 15th Parliament will commence with the meeting of the Dewan Rakyat on Dec 19 and 20.

According to a notice sent out to MPs today, the first order of business will be the election of the Dewan Rakyat speaker.

This process will be the first test of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's majority.

This will be followed by the swearing-in ceremony for MPs and the election of the deputy Dewan Rakyat speakers.

A motion of confidence on the prime minister is listed as the eighth item on the agenda.

As the swearing-in ceremony is expected to last no more than three hours, the tabling of the motion of confidence will most likely take place on Dec 19.

The final agenda will be the bills and other government business.

The government is also expected to table a "mini-budget" for civil service emoluments while waiting for the new finance minister to craft the full budget for 2023.

This two-day meeting will take place 25 days after the swearing-in of the prime minister.

In comparison, the Dr Mahathir Mohamad administration took 67 days in 2018 before holding its first Dewan Rakyat meeting.

Apart from the results of the vote on the speaker and confidence motion, all eyes will also be on who will take up the opposition leader's seat in Parliament (on the left of the speaker’s chair) on Dec 19.

Perikatan Nasional chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin is widely expected to occupy that seat by virtue of being the coalition leader.

However, Muhyiddin's party Bersatu has 32 seats, less than Abdul Hadi Awang's PAS, which has 44 seats in the Dewan Rakyat. - Mkini