Parliament can be dissolved while in session

Parliament may be dissolved at any time, even while the Dewan Rakyat is in session, to make way for the general election, said Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
        
He said there was no provision in the Federal Constitution, laws or Standing Orders of the Dewan Rakyat which prevented the prime minister from dissolving Parliament at any time. 

In fact, he said, the tabling of the 2013 Budget scheduled for Sept 28 was not a significant indication for the dissolution of Parliament as the prime minister could make such an announcement before or after the tabling if he was 'inspired' to do so. 

"The only effect would be on bills, for example if a budget bill was tabled and the debate was still in session when the dissolution of the Dewan Rakyat was announced, then the debate would have to be adjourned.
 
"But the bill would not be null, it would still be valid and the debate can resume after the general election without a need for it to be tabled afresh," he added. 

Mahathir has done it

He was elaborating the matter to Bernama yesterday when contacted to comment on the Dewan Rakyat procedures should Parliament be dissolved while it was still in session.     

According to Wan Junaidi the procedure was applied to all bills which were not passed at the time of Parliament's dissolution.

However, in a situation where there is a change in government, the new government or finance minister had the right to table the budget again based on their own ideas, said Wan Junaidi. 

The next Dewan Rakyat sitting starts this Monday and is scheduled to be in session for 12 days.   

The following sitting is scheduled for Sept 24 to Nov 27 with the main agenda being the tabling of the 2013 Budget by Prime Minister Najib Razak.  

With the 'general election fever' rising, there have been speculations that Najib would announce the dissolution of Parliament while the Dewan Rakyat was still in session.  

Such a scenario was enacted by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad who announced the dissolution of Parliament while the Dewan Rakyat was still in session to make way for the 10th General Election in 1999. 

Based on the Dewan Rakyat Standing Orders on June 11, four bills have been listed for their second reading.

They are the Protection (Amendment) Bill 2012 by the International Trade and Industry Ministry; Legal Profession (Amendment) Bill 2012 (Prime Minister's Department); Medical (Amendment) Bill 2012 (Health Ministry) and Environmental Quality (Amendment) Bill 2012 (Environment and Natural Resources Ministry). 

- Bernama