Shahrir's Resignation

Datuk Shahrir Samad's resignation as Chairman of the Backbenchers' Club reflects the frustration that he and many MPs feel at Parliament's impotence against the executive's omnipotence.
Is Parliament just a rubber stamp and an appendage of the executive? Are MPs mere mouthpieces of the government with no freedom to speak, act or vote according to their conscience and in furtherance of the trust reposed in them by their constituents?
In constitutional theory an elected and representative Parliament is supposed to perform four functions:
>> Making laws>> Controlling national expenditure and taxation>> Scrutiny of central administration>> Procuring the redress of individual grievances.
Making Laws
Parliament is the highest law-making authority in the country. The reality, however, is that the executive dominates the legislative process. An overwhelmingly large number of Bills are passed without any amendment whatsoever and without any in-depth scrutiny.
To strengthen Parliament's legislative role the following measures are proposed :
MPs must be supplied with draft copies of Bills at least two weeks before the beginning of each session.
To ensure close scrutiny, important Bills should be committed to Special or Select Committees of each House. This will facilitate the involvement of social action groups and public spirited citizens in the work of Parliament at committee stage.
To encourage private members to initiate Bills, some financial and legal assistance ought to be extended to MPs.
The practice of putting an embargo on Bills till they are laid before the Dewan Rakyat prevents MPs from studying the Bills in depth and seeking expert outside assistance. "White Papers" on proposed legislation should be made available to the public.
Controlling National Expenditure
The jurisdiction of the Public Accounts Committee should be expanded to cover all "Non-Financial Institutions" or "Off-Budget Agencies" that are exempt from the PAC's scrutiny.
The findings of the PAC should be given some teeth by sending them to the ACA and to relevant government departments with a view to initiating surcharge proceedings.
Order to senior public servants to appear before the PAC should be strictly enforced. Parliament must employ its privilege jurisdiction to compel attendance of witnesses and the production of information and documents.
Enforcing Executive Responsibility
To maximise the impact of question time, there should be live coverage of it in the media.
Some clear-cut criteria ought to be established for the placement of parliamentary questions on the daily agenda. Greater openness and transparency in this area will allay the suspicion that embarrassing questions are "killed" by placing them at the bottom of the list.
Ministerial replies to questions that could not be reached orally or to questions which were tabled for written replies should be sent expeditiously to the MPs who tabled the questions.
There should be a special 15-20 minute time slot once a week for YAB Perdana Mentri to answer questions.
Number of Sittings
There is a strong case for a drastic increase in the number of parliamentary sittings which average about 70 days per year. This can be contrasted with the United Kingdom where during the years 1959 to 1984, Parliament convened for 172 days per year on the average.
Committee System
A strengthened system of inquisitorial parliamentary committees can generate non-partisan advice and information. Committees can expose abuses within the bureaucracy. They can play a significant part in refining and improving legislation.
In Malaysia the committee system is in its initial stages of development and its potential lies largely untapped. It is time to consider the establishment of the following additional parliamentary committees:
(i) One parliamentary committee for each Ministry to scrutinise the working of all ministries, Statutory Bodies and privatised industries.
(ii)A Joint Committee of both Houses to examine all executive legislation including all subsidiary Legislation.
(iii)Special Committees on the Human Rights Commission, the Public Complaints Bureau and the Anti-Corruption Agency.
(iv)Special Committee on law reform.
Support Services
To assist MPs in their legislative and oversight functions, non-partisan ‘legislative support structures’ ought to be established.
Every MP should be allowed to hire two paid legislative assistants.
Each MP and Senator should have his/her own separate office space and clerical staff.
The Houses of Parliament should have their own legal counsel to assist members to analyse and understand legislative proposals.
An Institute of Parliamentary Affairs on the line of ILKAP or INTAN should be established to train MPs; to provide background analyses and research; and to assist Parliament to improve its institutional efficacy.
Constituency Function
Many MPs use their parliamentary allowance to establish "Service Centres" in their constituencies to provide their constituents with a channel for airing grievances. An annual official grant should be made available to all MPs for this purpose.
Senate
The Senate should be an effective revision/delaying chamber to Dewan Rakyat Bills. It should be more willing, unlike in the past, of amending Dewan Rakyat Bills.
Administrative Independence
To restore Parliament’s institutional independence, the Parliamentary Service Act should be re-enacted to put Parliament in charge of its own staff and establishment.
The administration of its Budget, the grant of leave to officers of the Houses, the organization of the activities of the Houses and of the Secretariat of Parliament and the approval of claims must be in the hands of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat and not in the hands of executive officials.
With the above reforms Parliament can re-emerge as the "grand inquest" of the nation.

Dr. Shad Faruqi is Professor of Law at UiTM. 16 May 2006