PRIME Minister Muhyiddin Yassin told Takiyuddin Hassan that there would be no extra time in the schedule for the current five-day sitting of Parliament, the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said.

According to Takiyuddin (Kota Bharu-PN), the order included extending daily debating hours in chamber and extending the number of days for the sitting.

“I have got the mandate from the prime minister not to extend the daily sittings (beyond 5.30pm) or number of days for Parliament to meet,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat this morning in response to opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim (Port Dickson-PH), who had asked the government for an extension.

Takiyuddin blamed the opposition for the situation. He said that the government and several opposition MPs had met director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah on July 26.

“In the meeting, the D-G gave us two options. The first is not to hold the Parliament meetings at all and the second is to limit the number of MPs in the House.

“The opposition should have responded to limiting the number of MPs but did not,” said Takiyuddin.

“As such, we have decided to allow everyone to attend but stick to the 5.30pm time limit set out in the Standing Orders.”

Takiyuddin added that he had also spoken to Muhyiddin and was mandated not to extend the session in any way.

Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (Kulim Bandar Baharu-PH) responded and said they had met Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun the following day.

After pressure from Yang di-Pertuan Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah to let Parliament meet again, the Perikatan Nasional government decided to hold a five-day briefing session for Parliament from July 26 till August 2.

It has also scheduled the next formal Parliament session to begin on September 6.

Parliament has not met since last December, after the government announced a state of emergency on January 11. – July 29, 2021.