Parliamentary reforms running smoothly – Deputy Speaker

KUALA LUMPUR: The Parliamentary Services Commission Bill is expected to be tabled in Parliament this year to strengthen the institution of Parliament and change the public perception about it being a rubber stamp, said Deputy Speaker of Dewan Rakyat Nga Kor Ming.

He said efforts to revive the Parliamentary Services Act, which was repealed in 1992, were ongoing as part of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) manifesto to return the autonomy of the parliament, making it capable of functioning independently, free from executive control.

“I’m confident that with the strong political commitment, we will succeed in implementing parliamentary reforms in a comprehensive manner during this current term (of Parliament) so that it will be a respected institution and not just a rubber stamp like it used to be,” he said when interviewed in Bernama News Channel’s Ruang Bicara programme recently.

Nga said the Bill would make the Parliament an independent institution, with its own budget and staff who are not subject to direction from the Public Service Department.

At present, the Parliament is still subject to Prime Minister’s Department and the Teluk Intan MP is confident that the parliamentary reforms would reflect the real status of the Malaysian Parliament.

Elaborating, Nga said improvement had also been done to the Parliament’s Question Time, which saw the number of questions answered increased to 15 from only eight previously.

In fact, he said the PH government’s promise to strengthen the check and balance mechanism was becoming prominently visible as there were currently 15 special select committees compared to only three or four under the previous Barisan Nasional government.

“It is our objective to see all ministries being monitored by a special select committee comprising the representatives from the government and the opposition so as to create a healthier and comprehensive check-and-balance system,” he said.

Nga said another reform being studied was to introduce ‘The Ministry Day’ during the Parliament session as the current practice sees jumble questions being posed and needed answers from various ministries.

“To improve management efficiency, we proposed to introduce ‘The Ministry Day’. For example, Monday is The Finance Ministry Day, Tuesday is The Education Ministry Day and so on. That way, we will know what ministry is scheduled for that day and they must be there to answer all the questions,” he said.

Nga also said the Parliament was also planning to emulate the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in having the ‘Prime Minister’s Question Time’, during which the premier would answer the questions.