KUALA LUMPUR (April 28, 2008):
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Nazri Aziz, who is in charge of parliamentary affairs, today conceded that now's a good time for the government to consider former Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang's call for parliamentary reform.
“The prime minister has already announced measures on judiciary reform, more independent Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and the likes. So, this is a good time for a reform in parliament. But, this is something to ask the PM, not me,” he said.
Since 2004, the DAP had been calling for parliamentary reform and modernisation for Malaysia to have a “First World Parliament” not only in infrastructure, but mindset, culture, practices and performance.
Among others, Lim had proposed live telecast of parliamentary proceedings, daily two-hour question time and Prime Minister’s Question Time twice a week.
With the number of opposition MPs up from 20 in the last parliament to 82 now, this is the closest the country has ever got to a two-party system.
A step in the right direction would be the decision to have live-telecast of the first half hour of question time starting Wednesday (April 30).
Nazri said MPs from Barisan Nasional (BN) must be more prepared to face their Pakatan Rakyat (PR) counterparts because they will be "asking questions in detail, not like before". "I believe there will be more check and balance now,” he said to reporters after the swearing-in of parliamentarians today.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said MPs from both sides have been given the mandate to represent the people in the Parliament.
“As far as I am concerned, we are all representing the rakyat. And BN has got the mandate to govern and respond to questions, including those posed by the opposition,” he said when asked to comment on the opposition’s bigger representation in the Dewan.
“They have their responsibility as an opposition and ours is to govern. So, both sides have got a role to play. The opposition, with the bigger number of seats that they have, they may want to speak or criticise more but it is our (BN MPs) duties to respond accordingly,” he added.
Earlier, after the swearing in of 222 MPs and two newly-elected deputy speakers, Syed Hamid proposed a motion for parliament to ask the Inspector-General of Police to ensure roads leading to the parliament building are not closed or obstructed during the parliament session.
“We want to avoid any disturbances or chaos on the roads or at the parliament building as this will disrupt traffic flow of MPs coming to the parliament,” he said.
His motion was supported by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.
The result of the 12th General Election saw BN winning by a simple majority of 140 parliamentary seats while Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) took 31, DAP 28 and PAS 23.
Opposition leader Datin Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (PKR-Permatang Pauh) said she expects debates to be more upbeat, adding that priority would be given to issues like the economy, corruption and the judiciary reforms.
Asked if a motion of no-confidence against the Prime Minister can be expected, she said: "At the moment, no."
PKR Information Chief Tian Chua (PKR-Batu) said: "We are waiting for the debates to come. Even in the first round, we have seen some competition, so I think we can expect more debates. I am expecting the parliament to have a more refreshed atmosphere and I’m looking forward to having good discussions."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment