.jpg "Tan Sri Rais Yatim delivers his maiden speech as Dewan Negara Speaker at Parliament, Kuala Lumpur on September 2, 2020. ― Picture by Shafwan Zaidon")
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 — The Dewan Negara has agreed to allow Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan to propose to the prime minister for two additional days of sitting at the Senate.
Dewan Negara President Senator Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim who chaired a coordination and preparatory meeting for the Third Meeting of the Third Session of Dewan Negara today said the dates are from Dec 28 to 29.
He said currently the Dewan Negara sitting is scheduled from Dec 16 to 23.
“It is aimed at enabling more members of the Senate to participate in the debate of 2021 Supply Bill as well as to settle other government business.
“To fully utilise the limited time, the meeting also agreed that there would be no break during Dewan Negara debate as practised in Dewan Rakyat,” he said in a statement today.
Also present in the meeting were several members of Dewan Negara and Senator Council as well as representatives of the Health Ministry, the National Security Council and the Fire and Rescue Department.
The meeting which was held virtually via Zoom also involved Senators from Sabah and Sarawak.
Apart from that, Rais said the sitting hours are from 10am to 2pm.
He added that the standard operating procedure (SOP) should be fully complied with throughout the sitting.
In this regard, he said to ensure the smooth proceeding of the Senate, all members are reminded to ensure their speeches are concise and respect the decorum of the house. — Bernama