KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 — The Dewan Rakyat has decided to allow only 80 MPs to attend per sitting, which will be limited to 10 am to 2 pm from November 9 to 15, in view of the Covid-19 situation, Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun announced today.
He said these measures are some of the adjustments to the Dewan Rakyat Order of Business for the Third Meeting of the Third Session of the 14th Parliament to ensure smooth running of the Dewan Rakyat amid the pandemic.
Azhar said the decision was reached at the Dewan Rakyat Order of Business Coordination Meeting Following Spread of Covid-19 yesterday, which was also attended by 10 party chief whips.
He said by it was after taking into consideration the advice from the Health Ministry (MOH) and the National Security Council (MKN).
“The Dewan Rakyat will sit only from 10 am to 2 pm. The Question Time on Mondays and Wednesdays will be held for an hour from 10 am to 11 am.
“On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Question Time will be held for 55 minutes from 10.05 am to 11 am. Only one supplementary question will be allowed and it must be as simple as possible,” he announced at the sitting today.
The text of the Speaker’s announcement was read out by Deputy Speaker Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon.
Azhar said the Minister’s Question Time will be held every Tuesday and Thursday for only five minutes from 10 am during which the MPs will read out their questions and the relevant ministers will reply in writing on the same day.
“The questions and answers will be posted on the Parliament’s portal as soon as possible,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said the meeting also agreed that the debate on the Supply Bill 2021 at the policy level will be held for eight days from November 9 to 12 and November 16 to 19, while the minister’s reply at the policy level will remain for three days from November 23 to 25.
“The debate at the committee level will be held for 11 days, namely on November 26 and 30, December 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14 and 15.
“The number of days allotted for the Third Meeting can be increased by another two days, namely on December 16 and 17, if necessary,” he said.
Azhar said if the Dewan Rakyat were to sit until 5.30 pm according to the original Order of Business, a total of 89 hours and 30 minutes would have to be spent for the debates on the Supply Bill at both the policy and the committee levels.
However, with the adjustments, the time to be spent on the debates on the Bill or Budget 2021 will be reduced to only 66 hours.
“Despite the reduction of time for the debate and winding up session, the MPs will still have ample time give fair consideration to Budget 2021,” he said.
On the number of MPs allowed to attend the sitting, he said it is now limited to only 80 at any one time, comprising 41 from the government and 39 from the opposition and the Independents, including those who are scheduled to debate.
Azhar said the selection of MPs to be allowed to attend the sitting will be made by their respective parties.
“The Dewan Rakyat secretary will issue special attendance cards to Kota Bharu MP to coordinate the attendance among the Cabinet members and government backbenchers, and to Sungai Petani MP to coordinate attendance among the opposition and Independent MPs,” he said.
To facilitate bloc voting process, Azhar said the bell would be rung for two minutes and will be followed by a 10-minute consolidation period and will be rung again for another two minutes.
“Only for this process, all MPs are allowed to be in the hall,” he said.
Azhar clarified that all the adjustment were temporary measures taken to balance the roles of MPs as lawmakers and the importance of taking care of everyone’s health following the spread of Covid-19.
— Bernama
