King says parliament can convene during emergency

KUALA LUMPUR: Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has expressed the view that Parliament may convene during the Emergency period on a date deemed appropriate by His Majesty, based on the advice of the prime minister.

Comptroller of the Royal Household of Istana Negara Datuk Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said the matter was enshrined in subparagraph 14 (1) (b) of the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance 2021 which states that Parliament should be called, prorogued and dissolved on a date as deemed appropriate by His Majesty on the advice of the prime minister.

In view of this, he said the perception by some quarters that the Emergency proclamation is preventing Parliament from sitting is inaccurate.

"It must be stressed that His Majesty's consent to the advice of the Prime Minister on the declaration of the Emergency Proclamation on Jan 12, 2021 is merely a proactive measure to contain the COVID-19 pandemic that has so far claimed over 1,000 lives," he said in a statement today.

Earlier, Al-Sultan Abdullah granted an audience to Dewan Negara president Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim and Dewan Rakyat speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun at Istana Negara.

During the audience, His Majesty had emphasised that Malaysia practises the democratic system based on the Supremacy of the Constitution principle and that each branch of the administration, be it the Executive, Judiciary or Legislature must abide by that principle.