KUALA LUMPUR – The inaugural royal address by the King of Malaysia Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar in Parliament for the opening of the first meeting of the third session of the 15th Parliament on Monday is highly anticipated.
The royal address will be broadcast live at 10am on February 26 through official broadcasts and online platforms.
The opening ceremony will begin with the arrival of His Majesty and Her Majesty Raja Zarith Sofiah Queen of Malaysia at Parliament Square where Sultan Ibrahim will then inspect a guard of honour.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, his two deputies, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, other cabinet members and the head of foreign delegations are also scheduled to attend the ceremony.
Based on the calendar on the Parliament’s official website, this Parliament sitting will last for 19 days with the main focus to be the debate on the royal address by Members of Parliament from February 27 to March 7 and then the winding-up by the relevant ministries for four days starting March 11.
The Dewan Rakyat sitting will then continue with the tabling of several bills including the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Bill 355) and a bill to realise the establishment of a single national border agency.
The establishment of the agency as announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when tabling Budget 2024 on October 13 last year was part of the initiative to strengthen national defence and security preparedness levels.
The first week of the Dewan Rakyat sitting is also expected to involve proceedings regarding the management of the implementation of the Multi-Lane Free Flow project by the National Accounts Committee.
The last sitting of the Dewan Rakyat was on November 30 last year. – February 24, 2024