Speaker summoned to Palace to meet King

KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof (pic) was summoned to Istana Negara here to meet with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah on Friday (Feb 28).

The Speaker had met the King earlier Friday morning, but was later summoned again at about 1pm, believed to be related to the Parliament sitting.

Earlier, Mohamad Ariff announced that there would be no special Parliament sitting on March 2 to determine who will be the prime minister.

The Speaker said that he had received a letter from interim Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, stating that the Government had agreed for a Dewan Rakyat meeting on Monday (March 2).

"However, in my opinion, the letter does not conform to Parliament's Standing Order 11(3) as it was not followed by a complete 'Motion Notification'," he said in a statement on Friday (Feb 28).

Mohamad Ariff said according to the Standing Order, the notice and date of the meeting had to be issued by him as the Speaker and that no notice had been issued as yet.

"Besides that, I believe that the need to have a special sitting will only be done after an royal decree by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in regards to the process of the appointment of the prime minister," he said.