Parliamentarians to skip lunch on Ramadan eve

KUALA LUMPUR: Members of Parliament (MPs) will forgo having lunch on the eve of the start of the Ramadan fasting month.

"As all are aware that all Muslims in the country will begin fasting during the month of Ramadan, assuming that fasting begins on Thursday (March 23), there will be no rest break on Wednesday (March 22) and proceedings will continue” said Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Johari Abdul.

He added when speaking in the Dewan Rakyat that this is to allow MPs to attend tarawih prayers later.

This will be the fourth time that MPs skipped a lunch break since the start of the Dewan Rakyat meeting on Feb 13.

The first time was on Feb 22 when the House was rushing to wrap up debates on the Royal Address before the tabling of Budget 2023 on Feb 24.

The other two occasions were to wrap up debates and ministerial replies on the Budget at the policy stage to ensure Dewan Rakyat proceedings did not extend beyond 10pm.

On Feb 28, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is leader of the House, requested that the current Dewan Rakyat meeting be extended by an additional two days.

This would enable a few legislative Bills and matters of government business to be tabled and decided in the Dewan Rakyat after the Budget is passed later at the end of March.

The Dewan Rakyat meeting began on Feb 13 and was to have ended on March 30 but has been extended to April 4.