KUALA LUMPUR (July 26): The government has decided not to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) to extend the Proclamation of Emergency beyond Aug 1, according to de facto Law Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan.

Further, in a surprising twist, Takiyuddin also revealed that the government has decided, based on Article 150(3) of the Malaysian Constitution, to revoke all emergency ordinances that have been promulgated during this Proclamation of Emergency early this year.

He said the decision to revoke all six emergency ordinances was achieved during a Cabinet meeting on July 21. 

"Because the ordinances have been revoked, then the issue of annulment is no longer relevant," he said during the first day of the five-day special Parliament sitting today. 

According to Article 150(3) of the Malaysian Constitution, a Proclamation of Emergency and any ordinance promulgated during the period shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament and, if not sooner revoked, shall cease to have effect if resolutions are passed by both Houses annulling such proclamation or ordinance. 

Takiyuddin explained this in response to opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who questioned why the ordinances were not included in the parliament agenda to be debated by the members of Parliament. 

To recap, the state of emergency came into force on Jan 11 and is scheduled to end on Aug 1. It was enforced to provide the government with the ability to mobilise all necessary resources to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

After repeated statements from the Istana Negara on the need to reconvene Parliament as soon as possible, the government on July 5 decided to hold special sittings for both the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara.

The special sitting for the Dewan Rakyat commenced today and will adjourn on Aug 2. 

The Prime Minister’s Office on July 5 said the special sittings are intended to provide explanations to MPs about the National Recovery Plan and to amend all the necessary laws and rules to enable hybrid Parliament sittings, and for the proclamations of emergency and emergency ordinances to be laid before Parliament.

For more Parliament stories, click here.

Read also:
'Where is the prime minister?' opposition MPs ask as Muhyiddin absent from answering questions over Emergency, NRP
Agong should be the one to revoke the proclamation of Emergency Ordinance, says Shafie Apdal
Govt to announce National Recovery Plan continuation, fine-tune economic recovery measures during 12MP, Budget 2022 tabling — PM