KUALA LUMPUR, 20 May: Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and Barisan Nasional (BN) today expressed support for the proposal by the Dewan Rakyat Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, to improve the Parliament.
The DAP Parliamentary Chip Chief, Anthony Loke Siew Fook, said that he supported the proposal and described it as a good move.
“DAP expresses our full support towards Pandikar’s call for the Parliament to be improved.
“37 Parliamentarians and two DAP Senators have expressed their full support for Pandikar to improve the Parliament,” he said, taken from the Malaysian Insider during a press statement at the Parliament lobby today.
Yesterday, Pandikar expressed his intention to resign because he was disappointed with the Parliamentarr institution which he sees as a ‘rubber stamp’, in addition to proposing a number of improvements including restoring the Parliamentary Services Act 1963.
The Act was repealed in 1992 during the administration of the former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The BN Backbenchers Club (BNBBC) Chairman, Tan Sri Shahrir Samad, said that the repeal of the Act caused blurring between the legislative and executive.
“In my opinion, there should be changes and reform to Parliament, especially in terms of the Parliamentary Services Act. It must be returned to place the Dewan Rakyat and the country in its proper state.
“It is to differentiate it a little further from the executive. There should be a line between the executive and Parliament,” he said.
He said that these improvements can begin with the establishment of a working committee to study Pandikar’s proposal to determine the direction and restore freedom to Parliament.
NS
