DEWAN Rakyat’s first meeting of the year will be held from September 6 to September 30 (15 days), Azhar Azizan Harun said.

“The second meeting will be from October 25 till December 16 (32 days),” said the Dewan Rakyat speaker in a media statement this evening.

These sittings, for the fourth term, will come after the five-day special sitting that will take place from July 26.

In the statement, Azhar said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had informed Parliament of the two meeting dates in accordance to Standing Orders 11(2).

“With this, the official opening of the Fourth Meeting of the 14th Parliament by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong will be held on September 6 at 10am,” said Azhar.

Earlier on July 5, the Prime Minister’s Office had said that the government has agreed to advise Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah to summon the Dewan Rakyat for a special meeting from July 26 to July 29 and on August 2.

It said the Dewan Negara would sit for a similar special meeting from August 3 to August 5.

The king had told the government to convene Parliament as soon as possible on June 16.

In a separate statement, Azhar said Muhyiddin had also instructed Parliament to hold the special meeting.

“For this purpose, I was informed that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has agreed to this although the Emergency Order (January 11) is still in force,” said Azhar.

“As such, Parliament will inform the MPs that Dewan Rakyat will meet from July 26 to August 2 for five days.”

The special sitting will see the government tabling its Emergency Ordinance as well as other matters pertaining to the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Parliament last convened in December last year, and has been suspended after the government had announced an emergency in January. The emergency ends on August 1. – July 15, 2021.