KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 (Sin Chew Daily) – The next parliamentary sitting on May 18 will be the shortest in the nation's history, with the originally planned one-day sitting reduced to a mere one-hour event.

A reliable source told Sin Chew Daily the no-confidence motion against the prime minister by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad would not make it to the May 18 agenda but would automatically be included in the July 13 agenda.

In the meantime, Dewan Rakyat secretary Riduan Rahmat was sacked by the government yesterday for helping the Dewan Rakyat Speaker accept the no-confidence motion against the prime minister.

A reliable source said yesterday's cabinet meeting had agreed to dismiss Riduan.

"This is the first time a Dewan Rakyat secretary has been sacked by the government of Malaysia."

Riduan is the shortest-serving Dewan Rakyat secretary, having been appointed only less than three months ago.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof announced in a statement today that Nizam Mydin would take the place of Riduan Rahmat as the new Dewan Rakyat secretary.