KUCHING, Aug 11: There may be a limit imposed on the number of Members of Parliament (MPs) allowed to attend the first meeting of the fourth session of the 14th Parliament which will start on Sept 6, as preventive measures take centre stage to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Deputy Speaker Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon said that the Dewan Rakyat Committee will hold discussions with the government and opposition chief whips soon to determine the number of MPs allowed to attend the parliamentary sitting next month.
“This is to ensure the session runs smoothly and prevent the transmission of Covid-19, as opposed to what happened during the special five-day sitting at the end of July.
“From what happened during the recent special sitting, we need more solid preventive measures in place,” he told Bernama after handing out food baskets to 50 veteran artistes in a programme organised by the Malaysian Veteran Artistes Welfare Association (PKAVM) in Desa Melawati in Kuala Lumpur yesterday (Aug 10).
This was due to the first death recorded yesterday, involving a high-ranking government official, out of the 97 Covid-19 cases linked to Parliament so far.
News reports had identified that the victim was the special functions officer for Deputy Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Guandee Kohoi.
Meanwhile, the special sitting of the third session of the 14th Parliament for Dewan Rakyat was supposed to take place from July 26 to 29 and on Aug 2, but only met for four days and was postponed after Covid-19 cases were detected in the Parliament building.
As for the motion of confidence on Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that is expected to be tabled in the upcoming meeting, Mohd Rashid said Parliament has yet to receive such a motion.
“We have yet to receive it to date. For government motions, the submission period is not that far off from the date of the sitting as compared to private motions which need to be submitted 14 days before,” he said.
Muhyiddin has recently announced that he will face a vote of confidence to determine his legitimacy as Prime Minister and the position of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government when the Parliament convenes in September.
The first meeting of the Fourth Session of the 14th Parliament will sit for 15 days from Sept 6 to 30, while the second meeting will run for 32 days from Oct 25 to Dec 16.
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah will officiate the opening ceremony on Sept 6. — DayakDaily
