KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 16 — The Dewan Rakyat sitting, which was scheduled to end today, has been extended by one day until Monday, December 20, to enable the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Bill 2021 to be discussed and decided.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun, in announcing this, said the extension had been agreed to by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob in his capacity as Leader of the House, in line with Standing Order 11 (2) of the Dewan Rakyat.
Standing Order 11 (2) states that the Leader or Deputy of the House shall determine at least 28 days before the commencement of each session, the dates on which the House shall meet in the session: Provided that the Leader or Deputy Leader of the House may vary from time to time the dates so fixed.
According to the order paper, the bill to amend the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) is scheduled to be tabled for second reading today.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin then stood up and said that the second and third readings of the bill had been postponed to Monday, in accordance with Standing Order 62.
Standing Order 62 states: “Either before the commencement of public business or when any stage of a Bill is reached in the Order of Business, the member in charge of a Bill may rise in his place and request that the Bill be withdrawn or that the next stage of the Bill be postponed.”
Azhar’s announcement was questioned by several members, including Pokok Sena MP Datuk Mahfuz Omar, who said the decision had disrupted the programmes of Members of Parliament (MPs).
“We MPs have lined up our own programmes, personal activities as well as programmes to meet people in our constituency. It is regrettable to be caught by this sudden announcement. Why can’t we defer the bill to the next session?” he said.
However, Opposition leader and Port Dickson MP Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim interjected to explain that the postponement of the debate on the bill was not a unilateral decision as it had been discussed and agreed to by several parties since this morning.
“There was an engagement process until afternoon involving the Health Minister, Health director-general and party leaderships. Then it was referred to the prime minister on the need to postpone to give room for discussion with all quarters.
“This is so that the select committee can meet before submitting several other proposed amendments. This is because of our view that several provisions should be amended in total especially regarding compounds,” he said.
He said the Parliamentary Select Committee would meet to discuss the Act 342 amendments at 8 am on Monday, before the Dewan Rakyat sitting starts at 10 am.
“If all important matters can be agreed upon, we may consider supporting, and if agreement cannot be reached on several substantive matters, we still have space to oppose or reject the motion.
“So, I would like to clarify that this is not a unilateral decision after the (our) stand to question several provisions which are proposed for amendments,” he added.
According to the bill, individuals who commit offences can be compounded up to RM10,000 compared to RM1,000 now while corporate bodies can be penalised up to RM1 million for violating the law.
— Bernama
