I REFER to your report “Five-day parliamentary meeting is not constitutional, says Kit Siang”. 

With respect, I do not agree with Bandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang that the special sitting of Parliament on July 26 is unconstitutional.

The sitting will be the Special Meeting of the Third Session of the Fourteenth Parliament (Mesyuarat Khas Penggal Ketiga Parlimen Keempat Belas). As I have written earlier, two Special Meetings had been called by then prime minister Najib Razak under Standing Order 11(3). The first – a two-day sitting – was to debate a motion to decide on the participation of Malaysia in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) in 2016. The second – a one-day sitting – was to debate the tragic downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in 2014. 

A royal address by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (the King) is not required for a Special Meeting. A royal address is pursuant to Parliament being convened for the first meeting of a new session in a calendar year. Parliament has yet to be convened for the First Meeting of the Fourth Session of the Fourteenth Parliament (current Parliament) this year. Parliament is being reconvened as the Special Meeting of the Third Session, which last sat on December 17 last year but has not been prorogued by the king.

Lim may recall that the Special Meeting in 2016 was on January 26 and held before the First Meeting of the Third Session of the Thirteenth Parliament which commenced on March 9 with a royal address. The constitutionality of that Special Meeting was not raised, and rightly shouldn’t.

But I agree with him that the five days may not be sufficient. – July 6, 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.