KUALA LUMPUR: The first royal address by His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, the 17th King of Malaysia at the opening of the First Meeting of the Third Session of the 15th Parliament on Monday, and the commotion which saw the opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) staged a walkout on Tuesday, were among the events that added colour to the first week of the Dewan Rakyat sitting.
The King’s royal address was laden with valuable advice and reminders, including for all members of the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara to watch their manners during the session.
In fact, the King also gave the 'green light' to the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat and the President of Dewan Negara to take stern action against any member of the two Houses who 'oversteps the boundaries'.
Sultan Ibrahim also touched on issues related to racial unity, food security and economic development.
The motion of thanks for the royal address was brought forth by Shah Alam MP Azli Yusof, who also proposed an amendment to allow control mechanisms on integrity issues and any mismanagement that could harm the country to be done at an earlier stage.
So far, 51 MPs have debated on the motion, which encompasses various aspects such as education, cost of living, high-technology sectors, and marketability of local graduates.
On Tuesday, another history was made when the Rukun Negara pledge, beginning from its preamble, was recited by all MPs before they began the sitting.
The reading of the pledge was led by Dewan Rakyat Secretary Nizam Mydin Bacha Mydin.
It was the Ministry of National Unity’s initiative approved by the Cabinet on July 25 last year, whereby the Rukun Negara pledge, including its preamble, will be recited at the beginning of every Dewan Rakyat session, which is the second day after the opening of the first meeting of every Parliament session.
A commotion also heated up the Dewan Rakyat sitting in the first week which saw the opposition staged a walkout in protest over what they claimed were actions that did not abide by the Standing Orders.
The commotion began after Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul gave permission to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to deliver a speech to congratulate the new King, and thank the previous one, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Mustafa Billah Shah, in the middle of the debate on the royal address.
Anwar described the opposition’s protest as rude and showed that they did not respect the royal institution.
According to the Parliament calendar, the sitting will run for 19 days until March 27. -Bernama
