Melaka State Assembly to convene for four days beginning Sept 20

JASIN, Sept 15 -- The Melaka State Legislative Assembly will convene for four days starting Monday (Sept 20), said Deputy Speaker Datuk Ghazale Muhamad.

He said the First Meeting of the Fourth Session of the 14th State Legislative Assembly will be officiated by the Yang Dipertua Negeri, Tun Mohd Ali Rustam, on Monday, and will sit for four hours a day only, from 9.30 am, according to standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the National Security Council (MKN).

“There is no break because the period allowed to sit in a day is very short, and we received a total of 109 oral questions, with 60 to 70 per cent of them involving COVID-19 related questions.

“Due to time constraints, we propose that the number of supplementary questions for oral question and answer sessions will be reduced from three to two questions only, but it depends on the Speaker's authority,” he told reporters after visiting the Malaysia Day Special Farmers’ Market at Jasin Farmers’ Market here today.

Apart from that, Ghazale said that each assemblymen’s time to debate Mohd Ali’s policy speech will also be shortened, and the number of debaters would also be limited, so that the sitting will run smoothly.

He said that only 90 individuals will be allowed to attend the sitting so that physical distancing can be carried out.

He added that those in attendance, including assemblymen, staff and members of the media, are required to undergo a COVID-19 screening test to ensure they are free from the virus.

The RT-PCR test will be carried out this Friday and the RTK Saliva Antigen test will also be conducted for three consecutive days before the sitting on Monday.

-- BERNAMA