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PETALIZING JAYA: A session of Parliament that is limited only to the leadership of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may open up to a legal challenge from the Opposition.
This is because even the King’s speech must be debated to guarantee the legitimacy of the government, constitutional lawyer Kokila Vaani Vadiveloo al Sun said yesterday.
Although the movement to restrict the session only to the Royal Directorate may be within the scope of the law, it can be contested under Permanent Order 14 of the Dewan Rakyat, he noted.
“Permanent Order 14 establishes that unless the Dewan Rakyat indicates otherwise, the matters of each session will be processed in the order established in that Permanent Order, among others, including Question Time and matters of public importance,” said Kokila .
The order includes events that must be carried out in the following order:
a) Formal entry of the speaker
b) Prayers as approved by the house
c) Take the oath for any new member
d) Messages from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong
e) Speaker announcements
f) Requests
g) Minister’s Question Time
h) Questions to the ministers for oral answers
i) Motions on matters of urgent public importance
j) Declaration of the ministers
k) Tributes
l) Obituary speeches
m) personal explanations
n) Presentation of government bills (first reading)
o) Motions related to the agenda (to be moved by a minister)
p) Public business
q) Motions for the introduction of non-governmental bills
r) Other business matters in the order in which they appear on the order paper of the day.
“Traditionally, in a parliamentary system, a debate is followed after the King’s speech. Some consider that (the Royal Address is only sitting) uses the parliamentary procedure to delay and postpone the legitimization of the government of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, “he said.
“However, Muhyiddin, as head of the Parliament council (Ketua Majlis Parlimen), can determine and reduce the sequence of the event in accordance with the law.”
Meanwhile, Selayang MP William Leong said that by limiting the session, it implied that the Perikatan Nasional government does not have the trust of the Dewan Rakyat.
He said the actual speech is important as it marks the beginning of a new session of parliament.
“Politically, the actual speech is important because it is the first test of a government’s ability to control Parliament’s confidence. It establishes the government’s policies, priorities and programs for the next session of Parliament, including the legislation it intends to pass, ”he said in a statement.
He said that the negative vote on the Royal Speech is of great importance in the UK, as it clearly casts doubt on the government’s ability to gain Parliament’s trust.
“Historically, a defeat in actual speech has been treated as an implicit loss of confidence in a government, as it suggests that it does not have the majority to carry out its programs,” Leong said.
He cited an event in 1924 in which a government led by Stanley Baldwin was defeated in a vote on his legislative program set out in the royal speech, and Baldwin resigned as prime minister, and the opposition formed a new government.
The MP added that the session also deprives the august house of an opportunity to address people’s concerns about the measures taken during the crisis and their needs to be addressed in the post-Covid-19 recovery phase.
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