DEWAN Rakyat speaker Azhar Azizan Harun has rejected two motions from opposition lawmakers ahead of the first Dewan Rakyat special meeting on Monday.

In a letter to the Port Dickson MP Anwar Ibrahim, Azhar said the notice for the special sitting was issued on July 15 while Anwar’s motion was submitted on July 12.

“Therefore, the motion is not in the order paper because it was submitted before the notice,” said Azhar.

Anwar had requested for a debate on the proclamation of emergency, emergency ordinances, Covid-19 pandemic related expenditure, the ongoing vaccination programme and the National Recovery Plan.

Apart from that, Azhar said that Anwar had raised several topics in a single motion, which was in violation of Standing Order 33(1) and 46(3). Therefore, the motion cannot be accommodated.

He added that Anwar’s motion violated Article 150(3) of the federal constitution.

Azhar also turned down Beruas MP Ngeh Koo Ham’s motion as it was not part of the Perikatan Nasional government’s agenda.

“The agenda for the special meeting (on July 26 till August 2) has to be set by the prime minister.

“In this matter, the agenda for the meeting has already been forwarded to the MPs,” said Azhar.

Azhar added that Ngeh’s motion had also violated Article 150(3) of the federal constitution.

Ngeh had filed four motions seeking the annulment of the proclamation of emergency and three emergency ordinances.

According to him, Azhar must comply because Article 150(3) of the federal constitution requires the aforementioned laws to be scrutinised by Parliament.

According to the order paper for the five-day Dewan Rakyat sitting beginning Monday, five cabinet ministers will conduct briefings for the House.

The order paper said that MPs are allowed to question the ministers and air their opinions.

Additionally, on Monday, three proclamations of emergencies and nine emergency ordinances will be “tabled”.

Unlike the instructions for the ministerial briefings, the order paper does not state that the emergency ordinances will be debated. – July 24, 2021.