Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar
KUCHING (July 6): The announcement yesterday on the Parliament sitting from July 26 may cause everyone to scramble, said Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Dato Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
He said the legal and normal way is for the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to give notice of two days to the Speaker, who will then inform the Secretary of the Dewan Rakyat.
He said the Secretary of Dewan Rakyat, if given the allowance of time, then may take two to three days to prepare the parliamentary notice documents to be sent to all the MPs.
“After this announcement today (yesterday) and the Speaker has received the official notice of the announcement, the Secretary of Dewan Rakyat will issue notice to all members of Parliament (MPs) under Rule 9 of not less than 28 days.
“After receiving the notice, members may ask questions and the notice must reach the Secretary 10 working days before the session starts, under Rule 22 of the Dewan Rakyat.
“Normally, the Secretary when issuing the 28 days notice will accompany (it) with details of the sitting, in this case the five days; date and time if any is considered different than the time spelt out in Standing Orders and Rules,” he said.
He said the daily Orders of Parliamentary sitting will detail the timing of each item for the day, for example, the question time, the ministers’ speech and response from members if any, the start and end of each session.
“We have not got the details of the parliamentary work yet, for now we rely on the short announcement made by the PM’s Office today.
“We may get some details on the five days sitting on the Wednesday after the Cabinet meeting,” he added.
Wan Junaidi said as the notice issued by the PMO only says the purpose of the sitting is to explain to members the National Recovery Plan it does not say which ministries will be asked to give explanations and so on.
He, however, said if that was the only government agenda then five days might be enough.
“Whatever it is, remember that the Prime Minister is the leader of the House who determines the date and time of the meeting and the agenda, which is based on the government requirement under the Standing Orders and Rules of Dewan Rakyat.
“Once the agendas are determined then the Speaker will cause them to be arranged according to the Order of the Day of Dewan Rakyat. Similarly, the Dewan Negara,” he said.
On whether there will be a vote of no confidence being tabled, Wan Junaidi said no one can tell, adding the MPs still can make it for political purposes.
The Prime Minister’s Office yesterday announced that Parliament will sit for five days starting July 26.
Dewan Rakyat proceedings will take place from July 26 to July 29 and Aug 2, the statement said. Meanwhile, the Senate will sit for three days from Aug 3 to Aug 5
“The sitting will be for the purpose of explaining to members about the National Recovery Plan,” the PMO said.