“WHAT do you say if the prime minister just convenes parliament,” asks Saleh Mohammed.

I say the prime minister cannot just convene parliament.

Aside from the necessary formalities to convene parliament, there must be an Order Paper that sets out the Order of Business which must be transacted in the House. It’s like a meeting’s agenda.

If parliament is convened for the year (2021), it will be the First Meeting of the Fourth Session of the 14th parliament. The order paper must set out the order of business as provided under Standing Order 14(1). There are at least 16 items, excluding oath taking by a new member. There will not be new members as bye-elections to the two vacant seats in the House have not been conducted due the emergency ordinances promulgated last year.

Importantly, since it is the first meeting of the year, there will be the royal address which outlines the government’s policy for the coming session of parliament and to indicate forthcoming legislation. This royal address is expected to update the nation of the country’s state of affairs and address the Covid-19 exit – that is, the National Recovery Plan (NRP) – and the 12th Malaysian Plan (12MP).

That’s quite a royal address to prepare. What’s more, the members get to debate it in a motion to thank the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong for the royal address.

So yes, the prime minister cannot just convene parliament.

But the prime minister can reconvene parliament for a one-day special meeting as then prime minister Najib Razak did in July 2014 to debate a motion on the tragic downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

Now that both Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun and Senate President Rais Yatim have proposed a special sitting of parliament in early August to make the necessary amendments to the Standing Orders and other issues, let’s appreciate the importance of such a sitting.

Call the special sitting what it is – a special meeting (“mesyuarat khas”). But let’s take a leaf from the United Kingdom’s House of Commons which sat on April 21, 2020 to debate a motion to allow members to participate either virtually or physically in the debating chamber.

One can have reservations on the special committee which is reported to have been formed and chaired by the speaker and senate president, with members made up of the their deputies, the Dewan Rakyat and Senate secretaries, and parliament secretariat, led by the chief administrator of parliament.

But there is a need to look into whether amendments to the Standing Orders are necessary. That’s a job for the SOC – as a collective, not as individual members.

The special sitting has been proposed to be in early August, and it is more than a month away. Parliament can be reconvened or recalled for the Special Meeting in July. It’s for the prime minister to make the call. Following the King’s decree that parliament should convene as soon as possible, a one-day sitting is either a “case of urgency” [Standing Order 9(2)(a)] or “public interest” [Standing Order 11(3)] as the phrases are used in the Standing Orders.

It is doable.

Why a one-day special sitting and not a full sitting? It is important for detractors of the special sitting to appreciate that the one-day sitting will allow the Speaker as the Chairperson of the SOC to call for the SOC to meet, deliberate and report to the House.

Symbolically, it is also the “unlocking” of parliament.

Whether in early August or early July – a July 5 notice for a July 9 sitting – it should herald the beginning of a digital parliament. Lest we forget, a digital parliament is a sustainable development goal (SDG) – SDG16 promotes peace, justice and strong institution with 12 targets which Malaysia is committed to pursue and achieve. It will be a national key achievement and progress which Malaysia may report in its Voluntary National Review.

As media reports go, the one-day special sitting of parliament in early August has been conveyed to the prime minister to which “very good cooperation and support” was received.

Perhaps it can should be conveyed that an early July special sitting of parliament is also doable.

The prime minister cannot just convene parliament but he can reconvene a special meeting for a day which is doable in early July. – June 27, 2021.

* Hafiz Hassan reads The Malaysian Insight. 

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.