M’sia takes stride towards maturing parliamentary democracy with openness to debate agency reports – Azalina

KUALA LUMPUR - In a historic move, the government, with the support of Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul, has opened the door to increased parliamentary scrutiny and debate on agency or commission reports.

Previously, such reports were only required to be presented, with limited opportunity for meaningful deliberation.

Minister in the Prime Minister Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said indicated that this newfound openness to parliamentary debate signals an important stride towards a maturing parliamentary democracy.

“The Speaker wants many agency and government commission reports to be discussed.

“It is part of the effort to reform the Parliament institution. For me, it’s a good thing,” she told Sinar Daily recently.

According to the Pengerang MP, this change was poised to allow for more robust deliberations on various pressing issues such as the Auditor-General’s Report, the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) Report, the Malaysian Plan (RMK), the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Report, and the reports of each Parliamentary Select Committee.

Azalina believed this would foster increased governmental accountability towards the people, especially concerning expenditures.

“The Parliament’s closure during the Covid-19 pandemic had stifled such dialogues, but a paradigm shift was expected with its reopening and the looming 15th General Election (GE15),” she said.

Azalina stressed that Barisan Nasional (BN), and Pakatan Harapan (PH), shared common goals of promoting freedom of speech for Members of Parliament.

“This new openness to discussion will extend to contentious issues, including bail rights for those accused under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).

“While some government agencies might oppose granting bail, other voices in Parliament, especially those from legal backgrounds, may advocate for it due to human rights considerations,” she added.

Acknowledging that the government should not consider itself foolproof, Azalina called for a policy of openness to criticism from both government officials and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).

She envisions her Ministry’s function as not only meeting internal goals but also fostering engagement sessions with MPs and the public on crucial topics, including the proposed Ombudsman Act.

On June 6, the government proposed that the Auditor-General’s Report be debated in detail as part of reforms to improve auditing efficiency, effectiveness and quality.

To this, Azalina said the initiative is to enable all parties to pay attention to the requirements of the law to create better public sector governance.

Earlier on the same day, a commotion erupted in the Dewan Rakyat following the move by Perikatan Nasional (PN) MPs to object to the motion to debate the audit report and the seats in the Opposition bloc were empty as the Dewan Rakyat proceeded to debate the report.