Parliamentary Services Act to be tabled this session, says PKR MP

 

PKR MP Lee Chean Chung said reinstating the Parliamentary Services Act would enable Parliament to function independently of the government, particularly in administrative, staffing and financial matters. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

The government will table the reintroduction of the Parliamentary Services Act (PSA) in the current session of the Dewan Rakyat, according to PKR MP Lee Chean Chung.

Lee, who attended a pre-Dewan Rakyat assembly meeting with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim yesterday, said the move was a significant step towards restoring parliamentary autonomy, lost when the Act introduced in 1963 was repealed in 1992.

“Since then, Parliament’s administration has been under the jurisdiction of the executive, reducing its autonomy,” he said in a Facebook post.

Lee said reinstating the PSA would enable Parliament to function independently of the government, particularly in administrative, staffing and financial matters.

“This autonomy would also allow parliamentary committees to operate more effectively by ensuring they have sufficient resources and legal authority,” he said.

He also said restoring the PSA would reinforce Parliament’s role as an effective check and balance on the executive, declaring it would “no longer be a rubber stamp, but a ‘cop mohor rakyat’ (seal of the public)”.

After the PSA’s tabling, originally slated for last year, was postponed, Subang MP Wong Chen, who was present when Anwar briefly announced the delay in Parliament, said it could be due to administrative issues, particularly regarding pay and pensions.

Calls to revive the law have been made for a few years by MPs as well as by former Senate president Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar. - FMT