The first sitting of the 2018 session of Parliament has been scheduled from March 5 to April 5, according to a letter from Dewan Rakyat secretary Roosme Hamzah.
The announcement comes amid speculation that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will dissolve Parliament after the Chinese New Year celebration, which falls on Feb 16-17, to pave the way for the 14th general election.
In the letter, a copy of which was provided to Malaysiakini by DAP lawmaker Lim Lip Eng, Roosme said the parliamentary sitting would be officiated by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V.
She also called on Members of Parliament to submit their questions, whether oral or written, and motions to the Dewan Rakyat secretary's office via email or fax.
In an immediate reaction, DAP's Ipoh Timor MP Thomas Su said the dates indicated that Najib wants the Election Commission's redelineation exercise to be implemented before the election is held.
“GE14 is likely to be in April or May (before Hari Raya) or possibly after Hari Raya, that is July,” Su said in a Facebook post.
Terima surat 'post dated' hari ini :)
— LIM LIP ENG (@limlipeng) January 15, 2018
Jadi, bila pilihan raya? Sebelum Ramadhan atau selepas Raya?? pic.twitter.com/d4Y8sx7CvJ
Last week, Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz speculated that Parliament would likely be dissolved in April.
Against the backdrop of corruption allegations, which have made international news, Najib is seeking to improve on his previous electoral outing in 2013, where BN not only failed to reclaim its two-thirds parliamentary majority but also lost the popular vote.
Najib has denied the corruption allegations and blamed them on his former mentor-turned-nemesis Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is accused of attempting to topple the prime minister to engineer his son's political ascension.
The 14th general election would see Mahathir leading the opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan's charge at the age of 93.
Mahathir, who was prime minister for more than two decades, has also been named Harapan's candidate for the top post should it conquer Putrajaya.
Mahathir's Bersatu, Najib's Umno and the PAS-led coalition Gagasan Sejahtera would be vying for the Malay votes, with Harapan hoping that a tsunami among this demography would sweep it into power.
Following GE13, Harapan parties PKR, DAP, Amanah and Bersatu have 36, 28, six and one seats, respectively.
Harapan would require a simple majority of 112 of the 222 parliament seats to form the federal government.
