The Yang di-Pertuan Agong must act on the advice of the cabinet in calling for Parliament to convene, said Attorney-General Idrus Harun.

He said it was the prime minister who must decide on a date, 28 days prior, to convene Parliament.

“With regard to the power of the cabinet in advising the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to convene parliament, Standing Orders 11(2) and 10(2) of the Dewan Rakyat provide that the prime minister or deputy prime minister shall fix, at least 28 days before the beginning of each term, the dates the council will meet in a term and the head or deputy head of the council may change the date fixed.

“Therefore, in line with the power of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to convene parliament in accordance with the advice of the cabinet, the dates of meetings of the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara are also determined by the cabinet,” Idrus said in a statement.

On June 16, the king decreed that Parliament to convene as soon as possible to debate emergency laws and the country’s exit strategy from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Malay rulers reiterated his call in a separate statement. They also said the emergency should not be extended beyond August 1.

Parliament has been suspended under the emergency, which was put in place from January 11 until August 1, to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

MPs last sat in Parliament in December last year.

Idrus said the king’s role as a constitutional monarch as provided under Article 58 of the Federal Constitution does not change even when the country is in an emergency.

He cited the case of N. Madhavan Nair vs the Government Of Malaysia (1975), where the court found that an emergency rule, which passes the legislative power from parliament to the king has not displaced his position as the constitutional monarch, bound by the constitution to act at all times on the advice of the cabinet.

Last week, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and senate president Rais Yatim both said that the Emergency Ordinance 2021 allowed the king to convene, prorogue or dissolve the Parliament without advice from the cabinet.

Citing Section 14(1)(a) of the ordinance, Rais said during an emergency, the powers to convene, prorogue or dissolve Parliament no longer lies with the federal constitution.

Zahid added that the provisions under the Emergency Ordinance supersede the Federal Constitution and the king can convene a sitting at any time.

Idrus said Section 14 of the Ordinance must be read together with Section 17 and 18 of the Emergency Ordinance.

Section 17 says that so long as the emergency is in force, the powers given under the Ordinance shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, the powers given by or under any other written law for the time being in force.

Section 18 states that in the event of any conflict or inconsistency between the provisions of the Ordinance and any other written law, the provisions of the Ordinance shall prevail and the conflicting or inconsistent provisions of such other written law shall be deemed to be superseded to the extent of the conflict or inconsistency.

Idrus said when all three ordinances are read together, the Emergency Ordinance does not exclude the king’s role as a constitutional monarch as provided in the constitution who will need to consult the cabinet when calling for parliament to convene. – June 25, 2021.