Malaysia's embattled Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced Monday that parliament, which has been suspended since January when the country was placed under emergency rules to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, will reconvene from July 26.
A statement from the prime minister's office said the government has agreed to advise the king, Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin, to summon parliament for a special meeting, with the House of Representatives to sit for a total of five days between July 26 and Aug. 2 and the Senate to meet for three days from Aug. 3 to 5.
"The meeting is aimed at briefing the Members of Parliament about the National Recovery Plan and to amend all the legislatures and regulations to enable the parliament to meet via hybrid method," the statement said.
All the emergency proclamations and ordinances made by the king since the state of emergency was declared on Jan. 11 will be tabled before both houses of the parliament.
Malaysia went into emergency rules after a surge in COVID-19 cases. Parliament and elections were suspended among other containment measures. The emergency is set to expire on Aug. 1.
Muhyiddin, who holds a slim majority in House, has been facing threats of a no-confidence vote against him.
Thus, when parliament was suspended, his critics viewed it as his attempt to hold on to power, especially since half a year later, the emergency has failed to tame the coronavirus outbreak and public anger against the government is rising due to many flip-flops and double-standards in the management of the COVID-19 guidelines.
As the country descended into both health and political crises, the king intervened by summoning political party and government agency leaders for a series of meetings last month.
He also conferred with the nine hereditary Malay rulers, who on June 16 commanded that the emergency would not be extended beyond Aug. 1 and that parliament should convene as soon as possible.
As a constitutional monarchy, the royals traditionally play a symbolic role, but the political imbroglio sparked by the collapse of then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's government in March last year due to defections that saw the rise of Muhyiddin, has seen the monarchy breaking with tradition to play an adjudicatory role.
Adding to pressure on Muhyiddin, the United Malays National Organization, the largest party in the National Alliance ruling coalition, had on June 21 issued a 14-day ultimatum to the government to fix a date for parliament to meet.
Rumors are rife that UMNO President Ahmad Zahid is planning to take the party out of the coalition.
UMNO, the party with the most seats in the parliament, has long grumbled about being overshadowed by a minor party like Bersatu headed by Muhyiddin.
It has previously threatened to part ways in the next election but political analysts say divorce may come sooner if Zahid has his way, meaning Muhyiddin's days could be numbered.
