JASIN (Bernama): The Melaka state legislative assembly will convene for four days starting Monday (Sept 20), says Deputy Speaker Datuk Ghazale Muhamad.

       He said the first meeting of the fourth session of the 14th state legislative assembly will be officiated by the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Mohd Ali Rustam, on Monday, and will sit for four hours a day from 9.30am, according to standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the National Security Council (NSC).

       "There is no break because the period allowed to sit per day is very short, and we received a total of 109 oral questions, with 60% to 70% of them involving Covid-19 related questions.

       "Due to time constraints, we propose that the number of supplementary questions for Question Time to be reduced from three to two questions only, but it depends on the Speaker's authority," he told reporters after visiting the Malaysia Day Special Farmers' Market at Jasin Farmers' Market here Wednesday (Sept 15).

       Apart from that, Ghazale said that each assemblyman's time to debate Mohd Ali's policy speech will also be shortened and the number of debaters limited, so that the sitting will run smoothly.

       He said that only 90 individuals would be allowed to attend the sitting so that physical distancing can be carried out.

       He added that those in attendance, including assemblymen, staff and members of the media, are required to undergo a Covid-19 screening test.

       The RT-PCR test will be carried out this Friday and the RTK saliva antigen test will be conducted for three consecutive days before the sitting on Monday. – Bernama

       METERED