Azalina: New Parliament Services Act to strengthen lawmakers, benefit public
It gives Parliament greater control over its administration, finances, staffing and professional support services - minister.
KUALA LUMPUR: Azalina Othman Said, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department responsible for Law and Institutional Reform, has highlighted that the new Parliamentary Service could bolster the independence of Select Committees. She explained that this could be achieved by ensuring that administrative officers of Select Committees operate under parliament's jurisdiction rather than the civil service.
The Minister noted that Select Committees have previously faced challenges due to government departments or agencies either not attending meetings or withholding information when summoned. This irregular attendance pattern often hinders the committee's ability to make well-informed decisions due to a lack of necessary data.
During a briefing on the implementation of the Parliamentary Services Act 2025, Azalina emphasized that the issue at hand does not revolve around who has the authority to summon government officials. Instead, it centers on the administrative support provided to Select Committees, which includes issuing notices, preparing questions, and drafting responses.
Currently, these functions are carried out by civil servants, who may feel uneasy when summoned by a committee to question senior officials from the same civil service hierarchy.
However, under the proposed new Parliamentary Service, such officers would operate directly for parliament with the Speaker as their institutional superior. This change could potentially alleviate their stress and provide Select Committees with greater freedom to perform their duties and obtain information from government departments.
Azalina stressed that the new Parliamentary Service would establish a distinct institutional structure where officers serve Parliament, not the government in power. The Parliamentary Services Act 2025, which came into force on October 1, marks the beginning of its implementation phase, following the repeal of the Parliamentary Services Act 1963 under the Constitution (Amendment) Act 1992 on November 20, 1992.
The new Parliamentary Service aims to ensure that Parliament can effectively serve all MPs, regardless of their political affiliation.
Written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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