He said the change in seating position was made by speaker Azhar Azizan Harun after receiving an application from the backbencher Umno MP, who is more popularly known as Ku Li.

“The (new) seating position (for Tengku Razaleigh) has actually been set by the speaker to be at the back, which is the independent bloc,” he told reporters after receiving a face mask contribution from Obor International Sdn Bhd at Parliament House today.

Masks from the company are used by the Malaysian contingent at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Mohd Rashid said the speaker enlisted Standing Order 2(2) of the Dewan Rakyat which enables him to allot a seat to every member and may vary such allotment from time to time, as he may think fit.

Tengku Razaleigh, in a letter sent to Azhar dated July 26, had requested that his seating position in the Dewan Rakyat be moved near the independent bloc which does not support the current government.

Earlier, Mohd Rashid had received 300 face masks from Obor International director and former national gymnast Kau Git Kaur to be distributed to MPs, Parliament staff and media practitioners covering the current special sitting of Parliament.