THE government has replaced Dewan Rakyat Secretary Riduan Rahmat with one of the officers from the Prime Minister’s Department, sources told The Malaysian Insight.

This comes after Riduan, who was appointed in February, had sent out a notice to all members of Parliament about the change in agenda for May 18’s sitting.

A statement from Dewan Rakyat Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof later confirmed the appointment of Nizam Mydin Bacha Mydin as Riduan’s replacement.

Meanwhile, Riduan has appointed administrative secretary to Dewan Negara.

No reasons were given for the transfer.

Riduan’s last act as Dewan Rakyat secretary was to send a notice on the May 18 sitting, in which he had said the prime minister had informed Parliament that the sitting was restricted to the royal address.

Not even government matters on financing for Covid-19 mitigation packages will be on the agenda, unlike the notice that was first issued to MPs on April 17.

With the change of agenda, Perikatan Nasional will no longer have to face the possibility of debating Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

On May 8, Parliament announced that Dr Mahathir’s motion had been accepted.

The 56-year-old Riduan, who was the former Dewan Negara secretary, replaced long-time Dewan Rakyat secretary Roosme Hamzah on February 22.

Roosme retired after her one-year contract extension expired in February after serving as secretary since 2007.

Riduan joined Parliament in 1989 and had been the Dewan Negara secretary since September 2014 before his Dewan Rakyat appointment.

Although, Parliament is the third branch of government, all the administrative functions, budget and staffing are decided by the federal government.

The Malaysian Insight has contacted Riduan and the Parliament office for confirmation. – May 14, 2020.