Annuar Musa defends Parliament sitting postponement

Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa has defended the postponement of Parliament sitting to May 18 as necessary.

The Ketereh MP said when Pakatan Harapan won the 2018 general election, they too took two months before Parliament convened.

The first parliament session after the May 9, 2018 polls was on July 16.

Annuar said there were many things that needed to be sorted out following the change of government on Sunday.

Among others, he added, was for the new government to prepare to nominate a new Dewan Rakyat speaker.

Annuar said the new government and opposition also needed to prepare for questions to be asked in the House.

"When I was in the opposition, I asked questions to be answered by the government. Now I'm in the government, there are no questions from the opposition, because they have not prepared their questions.

"According to the old parliament notice, many MPs did not submit questions because they were ministers and deputy ministers, now they need to submit questions.

"For (the former ministers) to ask questions, Parliament needs to issue a new notice," he said.

Annuar (below) added that proroguing Parliament ensures that Dewan Rakyat proceedings are in full compliance with the standing orders.

Parliament was supposed to convene next Monday before the new government prorogued it to May 18.

This comes amid calls for there to be a motion of confidence in Parliament, to test whether Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has majority support of the lower house.

DAP's Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh also said that other government business can be postponed to May, but that an urgent sitting should be called to determine who has majority support.

Both Harapan and Muhyiddin claim to be in control of the Dewan Rakyat.

Article 43(4) of the Federal Constitution then states that when a prime minister loses majority support in the Dewan Rakyat, he must tender his resignation unless the Agong decides to dissolve Parliament.

Annuar opined that a motion of no-confidence would be a waste of the Dewan Rakyat's time, and that MPs should stop politicking and focus on their work serving the people.