A letter from Dewan Rakyat secretary Nizam Mydin Bacha Mydin to MPs, sighted by FMT, also said that the second sitting will be from June 24 to July 18 while the third sitting will be from Oct 7 to Dec 5.

The number of days that Parliament sits each year is at the prime minister’s discretion.

“It has been finalised that the sitting (for 2024) will be for 69 days, which is five days fewer than last year,” a Parliament officer told FMT.

However, the Dewan Rakyat had to pass two budgets last year; Budget 2023 in February, and Budget 2024 in October.

There was also a six-day special sitting in September which focused on the mid-term review of the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP).

In addition, last year’s first sitting also debated Budget 2023 and the royal address. Only the latter will be debated during this year’s first sitting.

While he was unable to provide any reason behind the reduction in days, the Parliament officer acknowledged that some MPs “might make noise” about it as “fewer days means less allowance”.

Apart from their monthly salary of RM16,000, MPs are eligible to receive RM400 a day for attending Parliament and RM300 a day for official meetings, workshops, briefings, and seminars.

Other perks include a fixed monthly travelling allowance of RM1,500 and a phone allowance of RM900.

Another Parliament officer said although the number of days had been reduced, there might be some changes to the calendar as the year progressed.

“You can’t predict the exact number of days throughout the year because there might be calls for a special sitting,” he said.

“So for now, it’s 69 days… but there might be an increase later on.”

FMT has reached out to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul for comment.

Constitutional expert Shad Saleem Faruqi previously said there was a need to increase the number of parliamentary sittings to help Parliament to better perform its role.

He said the Dewan Rakyat now only met 70 to 80 days a year while in the UK, sittings were about 170 to 180 days a year.