By Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia--I have had a discussion with Yang di-Pertua Dewan Negara YB Senator Tan Sri Dato' Seri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim and Yang di-Pertua Dewan Rakyat YB Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun, yesterday, on my appointment as the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law).

In line with what I have mentioned earlier in the media, the focus during the 1.5-hour long discussion was mainly on the Parliamentary transformation. The three main issues discussed were on:

i) To revive / re-introduce the Parliamentary Service Act to give independence to Parliament.
This move is consistent with what have been taken by other parliaments internationally. This is based on Article 62 (Parliamentary procedure) and Article 63 (Privileges of Parliament) under the Federal Constitution.

ii) Proposal to create a new act of parliament replace The Houses of Parliament Privilege & Powers Act 1952(revised 1988).
The current act must be replaced because this act was created in 1952, under the 1952 parliamentary environment. It was not even a parliamentary environment, as it was created while Malaya was under Federal Agreement 1948. The existing act is completely obsolete and outdated and no longer suitable for the political landscape in the 21st century.

Instead of amending it, it is better to come up with a new act of parliament which is more comprehensive, inclusive and complete.
This is to also follow what is currently being made by most commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and India.

iii) Discussion on more amendments to the present Standing Orders and Rules of Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara.
This move is crucial in order to suit the proposed new act of parliament and the re-introduction of the Parliamentary Service Act. While there have been amendments made from time to time, many of these rules are a relic of the Federal Agreement 1948, which was only amended in 1956 for the independence of Malaya in 1957. It was further amended in 1959 to create a basis for the Standing Order and Rules of Dewan Negara and Dewan Rakyat.
However, many of these rules are not able to accommodate many modern things in parliament. Many Commonwealth countries have been making the necessary amendments to their rules and procedure in parliament to suit current time and in our quest for parliamentary reforms, it is crucial for us to make more changes and improvements to the set of rules that may no longer be suitable in today’s environment. The amendments made should also focus on efforts to empower the Parliamentary committee.

I am indeed happy to inform that both the Yang di-Pertua Dewan Negara and Yang di-Pertua Dewan Rakyat took the proposal positively and are, in fact, prepared to take on the lead role in the transformation of our parliament.

In line with this, we have also agreed to form a joint-committee between parliament and my ministry to ensure that the various proposals discussed can be executed swiftly. As for the next course of action, I will be submitting a report on this matter to the Cabinet for endorsement.