DO not take a narrow and regressive approach which may affect Parliamentary Select Committees’ operations in the future, Seed Community for a Professional Parliament (SCPP) said.
SCPP suggested that the Standing Orders (SO) and terms of reference (TOR) for a select committee should be read together with the purpose of forming it, in harmony to enable the committees to carry out its functions effectively.
“A such, select committees should be granted space to perform their functions independently to investigate issues that involve the public interest,” SCPP stated.
Recently, Dewan Rakyat postponed a hearing involving Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki’s share ownership issue to an unspecified date.
Dewan Rakyat secretary Datuk Dr Nizam Mydin Bacha Mydin said there were legal issues that the Parliament legal advisory office needed to look into before the hearing could commence.
On that note, SCPP said it defeats the purpose of establishing select committees if the Dewan Rakyat’s reference is required for each and every issue to be studied or investigated.
“The mandate given by the Dewan Rakyat should be interpreted broadly as select committees have been empowered to determine issues that need to be studied or investigated.
“Hence, we feel there is no need for a reference from Dewan Rakyat for each issue because the mandate has been broadly given,” it remarked. – Jan 20, 2022.
