FORMER Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak opined that the Parliament may get automatically dissolved if it is not reconvened tomorrow.
“Politicians and constitutional experts have stated that under Article 55 of the Federal Constitution, the Parliament must meet within six months of the last sitting.
“If the condition is not met, then the Parliament will get dissolved automatically. The last sitting was on Dec 29 last year, which means the Parliament must be convened by tomorrow, based on the timeline,” he said in a Facebook post.
Recently, the Conference of Rulers met and decreed that the Parliament and state assemblies must reconvene as soon as possible to discuss COVID-19 and efforts to mitigate its effects.
The monarchs also said that there was no need to extend the Emergency beyond the Aug 1 deadline.
Legal issues must be addressed
While Selangor and Pahang have decided to reconvene their state assemblies as the per Rulers’ decree, Prime Minister Tan Sri Mahiaddin Yassin has yet to approach the Istana Negara to set a date for the Parliament to meet.
Dewan Rakyat speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun and Dewan Negara president Tan Sri Rais Yatim were granted an audience by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong tomorrow to discuss the matter.
On that note, Najib said that Government supporters often argue that Article 55 cannot be invoked for now as the Parliament cannot convene during an Emergency.
However, he stated that Istana Negara had made it clear on Feb 24 that the Parliament can meet during the Emergency period, which indicated that the six-months clause was still in effect.
“Remember that the Agong issued the decree after meeting the Dewan Rakyat Speaker and Dewan Negara president, together with the chief legal adviser to the Agong, who is the Attorney General (AG).
“So, if someone is saying that the Agong has erred when His Majesty decreed that the Parliament can meet during an Emergency, it means both leaders of the Parliament and AG had ill advised the monarch,” the Pekan MP remarked. – June 28, 2021
