Pemimpin Amanah tolak, Hassan sokong timbang peranan ketua pembangkang tentukan agenda Parlimen

Amanah's chief executive, Faiz Fadzil, rejected the proposal to give the speaker of the opposition party the authority to determine the agenda of the Dewan Rakyat debates, while PKR MP Hassan Abdul Karim supported the idea and suggested it be considered further at the Parliament Selection Committee. Faiz noted that while such a practice exists in some advanced countries like the United Kingdom and Canada, it is not suitable for Malaysia as the opposition still lacks maturity and balance in their role.

He cited examples of some opposition MPs leaving the chamber during the Royal Malaysian Communications Society (RCI) inquiry into Tabung Haji, resulting in only the government and a few opposition MPs participating in the discussion. Faiz also questioned the opposition's claim to determine their own leadership, as Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar had held the position of opposition leader temporarily before Hamzah Zainudin regained it, even though PAS is the largest opposition bloc.

The chief executive of Wawasan National Vision Party (Wawasan), Saifuddin Abdullah, proposed on Friday that the speaker of the opposition party be given the authority to determine the agenda of the Dewan Rakyat debates as part of efforts to strengthen parliamentary debate practices in the democracy system. However, Hassan disagreed with Faiz's stance and proposed referring the matter to the Parliament Selection Committee for further consideration.

He suggested that if agreement is reached on the scope of authority and the role of the opposition leader in determining the agenda, the Rules of the House of Representatives would need to be amended to provide a basis for this change. "If agreement is reached on the form of authority and the role of the opposition leader in determining the agenda of the House of Representatives, which has been dominated entirely by the Prime Minister as the presiding officer of the Dewan Rakyat and some procedural matters by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, then the Rules of the House of Representatives must be amended," he said.

Hassan emphasized that such a change could strengthen the parliamentary scrutiny process and increase the government's accountability. He also noted that this step aligns with the current more independent position of the Parliament following the implementation of the Parliament Service Act, as well as reinforcing the principle of separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches.