Parliamentary Service Council Membership To Be Considered Oct 13 - Azalina

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 (Bernama) -- The proposed membership of the Parliamentary Service Council will be considered at a committee meeting on Oct 13, marking the next step in establishing the body tasked with overseeing the newly restored Parliamentary Service.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the council was one of two principal entities to be established under the Parliamentary Services Act 2025, alongside the Parliamentary Service itself.

“The council will look into the Parliamentary Service. Its membership will include the presiding officers of both Houses, the clerks of the Dewan Negara and Dewan Rakyat, as well as representatives from the government and opposition benches,” she told reporters after attending the "Seni, Populariti dan Survival Kewangan Forum” here today.

Azalina said public officers currently serving in Parliament would subsequently be given the option of remaining under the Public Service Department or transferring to the dedicated Parliamentary Service.

“What is more important to me is having the structure, including parliamentary draftsmen and other independent facilities, which allows Parliament to operate on its own without intervention from the federal Executive. That would be the next step that we are looking at under the Parliamentary Services Act,” she said.

Azalina was elaborating on her op-ed titled Parliamentary Service: Leveraging Parliamentary Independence for the People, which was reported by Bernama earlier today.

Commenting further on the article, she said Parliament should remain an institution that serves Malaysians regardless of which political coalition forms the government.

“Whether you are with the government or the opposition, Parliament must serve everyone. There should not be any bias that Parliament is more pro-government and against the opposition,” she said.

Azalina expressed hope that the restored institutional independence would encourage more Private Members’ Bills and give lawmakers greater opportunity to contribute to legislation and policy discussions.

“You cannot expect the Executive to be right all the time. Parliament provides the opportunity for different views to be put forward,” she said.

The Parliamentary Services Act 2025 and related amendments to the Federal Constitution took effect on Oct 1, restoring a dedicated parliamentary service 34 years after the previous legislation was repealed in 1992.

-- BERNAMA