KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — The First Meeting of the Fifth Session of the 15th Parliament will convene on Monday with the Royal Address of His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, as the day’s highlight.
His Majesty will deliver the Royal Address to open both the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara.
The Royal Address is expected to touch on important matters including national development, the welfare of the people and economic matters, in line with the commencement of the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP), the country’s five-year development plan that begins this year until 2030.
The Parliament opening ceremony will be broadcast live from 10am via official media channels, local television and online platforms.
Before the Royal Address takes place at the Dewan Rakyat, the King will proceed to Parliament Square to inspect a Royal guard of honour from the 1st Battalion of Royal Malay Regiment, Sungai Besi Camp.
Earlier today, Sultan Ibrahim granted an audience to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at Istana Bukit Tunku here.
According to a post on His Majesty’s Facebook page, the King consented to be briefed on current developments on national affairs.
His Majesty was also briefed on matters related to administration and the well-being of the people, according to the post.
Anwar, as well as his deputies Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, the Cabinet, and heads of foreign delegations will be attending the Parliament opening ceremony.
Based on the calendar on the Parliament website, the 20-day session of Dewan Rakyat will see the tabling of a motion of thanks on the Royal Address, followed by a debate session on the motion for seven days from January 20.
The Parliament session will then continue with a wind-up by relevant ministers in the third week of the session, from February 4 to 10.
The calendar also lists the tabling of bills and other government business to take place on the last six days of the session starting on February 23.
According to the calendar, Parliament will not sit on February 2 and 3 due to Federal Territories Day and Thaipusam celebrations, as well as from February 16 to 19 due to the Chinese New Year and early Ramadan celebrations that week.
The Dewan Negara session will convene for 13 days from February 23.
Meanwhile, the tabling of several new laws is expected to be the main agenda at this Dewan Rakyat session, including a bill to limit the prime minister’s term of office to no more than 10 years, or two full terms, as well as a bill relating to the separation of powers between public prosecutor and attorney-general.
The prime minister announced these on January 5, which he described as among the institutional reform measures being implemented by the government in this year’s parliamentary session.
Anwar said other bills include the Ombudsman Bill 2025 and the Freedom of Information Bill.
In addition, the focus will be on the second reading of the International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation Bill 2025 and the Urban Renewal Bill 2025, which were postponed in the previous session.
