Permanent parliamentary committees: Improvements required to ensure effectiveness

We, the undersigned civil society groups and institutional specialists, are reassured that the “Madani” (civil and trustworthy) government is finally taking steps to fulfil its promise to create a permanent parliamentary committee system in the House of Representatives.

On Wednesday, 6 August, a statement by the house’s standing orders committee to introduce the necessary amendments to the standing orders was laid before the house.

We expect that the standing orders committee’s statement will be brought before the house in the coming days through a minister’s motion, where the House will have an opportunity to debate the proposed amendments before voting to approve or reject the amendments.

Executive summary

The current proposal by the standing orders committee in essence converts the current ten parliamentary special select committees into permanent select committees, each with a purview over a set of ministries.

This is a good starting point, and we commend the speaker and members of the standing orders committee for taking a bold step forward in the right direction.

However, we are concerned that the good intentions of the Madani government will not be realised because of several critical gaps in the proposal that could render their efforts ineffective.

We have laid out our concerns and our recommendations to address the critical gaps below. In summary, our feedback is as follows:

• The proposal to set up only 10 permanent select committees does not meet current socioeconomic realities nor recognise that some of the current parliamentary special select committees are overburdened.
• The proposal does not guarantee that future governments must ensure that all their ministries fall under the oversight purview of at least one select committee.
• Important public institutions have been excluded from parliamentary committee scrutiny under the proposal.
• The proposal to require permanent select committees to review bills after first reading will only be effective if additional amendments are made to standing order 54 to ensure that all bills must be automatically referred to permanent select committees.
• Committee reports must be debated and voted on in the main chamber of the House of Representatives so that they become part of the official record of the house, and so that ministers’ response and all MPs’ feedback on the reports are also on the record.
• The mandate of the permanent select committees should also be expanded to include a review of the annual budget estimates.
• The proposal does not improve the weaknesses in the existing rules relating to committees’ powers and operations, such as the power to compel public officers to appear before them, issue subpoenas for evidence, commence committal proceedings and conduct hybrid hearings and public inquiries.

Details of our concerns and recommendations

• We have long advocated the importance of establishing a permanent (standing) committee system in the House of Representatives with the necessary powers, mandate and technical support to carry out legislative and government oversight. Parliamentary committees are the most effective method for MPs to shape laws and policies, and scrutinise the government.
• While the House of Representatives currently has parliamentary special select committees, they are only set up by resolutions of the house. This means they only exist for this 15th Parliament and even so, they are vulnerable to being dismantled at any time by the house majority. A permanent committee system on the other hand, will require every new house to set up parliamentary committees after every election, and those committees must exist until Parliament is dissolved. Establishing a permanent committee system under the standing orders can also help to ensure that committees receive the budget and resources they require, attract skilled staff and advisors, and undertake long-term planning and activities.
• The current proposal by the standing orders committee is commendable in many respects. However, we urge the House of Representatives to take note of our following concerns and incorporate our recommendations to address those concerns.
• Ten permanent committees are not enough: The 10 permanent select committees proposed by the standing orders committee are insufficient to handle the current range of ministerial and cross-ministerial portfolios. Many of the current special select committees are overburdened with the number of policy areas or ministries under their purview (for example, the Special Select Committee on Human Rights, Elections and Institutional Reform, the Special Select Committee on Infrastructure, Transportation and Communication, the Special Select Committee on Environment, Science and Plantation and the Special Select Committee on Nation Building, Education and Human Resource Development). The setting up of a permanent select committee system is an opportunity to split the focus areas of the existing special select committees and expand the number of committees so that all important and prominent policy areas are fairly distributed.
• No obligation on future governments to ensure all ministries fall under parliamentary committee scrutiny: The standing orders committee’s proposals also do not guarantee that every new Parliament and government will be obligatedto set up committees that cover all policy portfolios, ministries and core public institutions existing or relevant under that parliamentary cycle. The current 10 House of Representatives special select committees are only designed to cover the policy and ministerial portfolios that exist under the Madani government today. However, every new government administration will set up and divide their ministerial portfolios differently, as we have seen under past Malaysian governments.
• Furthermore, new policy areas such as those relating to the climate crisis and technological advancements will continue to emerge and require the setting up of new ministries or public agencies. These new ministries or agencies should each fall under the jurisdiction of a parliamentary committee, and may not fit into the set of committees currently proposed by the standing orders committee.
• It is noted that the standing orders committee’s proposal enables the House of Representatives’ committee of selection to amend the names of the 10 new permanent select committees and preserves the house’s power to set up special select committees. However, the proposed amendments do not impose an obligation on the committee of selection to ensure that every ministry and public institution is covered by a permanent select committee. Our recommendation is to insert a provision into the standing orders that requires the house to ensure that in every parliamentary cycle, all federal ministerial portfolios must fall within the oversight jurisdiction of at least one select committee.
• Important public agencies are not covered: In addition, while we are pleased to see that oversight of the Electoral Commission has been assigned to a specific select committee, we note that other critical public agencies have been excluded from committee scrutiny and oversight under the standing orders committee’s proposal. For example, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission does not expressly fall under the purview of any of the proposed permanent select committees.
• Mandate of the permanent select committees must be expanded and better protected: We are encouraged to note that the mandate given to the proposed permanent select committees under the standing orders committee’s proposal is fairly wide, but critical aspects are missing or incomplete. For example:
• All bills must be automatically referred to permanent select committees:The proposed permanent committees are required to scrutinise bills falling under their purview after a bill’s first reading. This is a positive development, as it will mean all bills presented to the House of Representatives must undergo select committee scrutiny. However, for this proposal to be truly effective, standing order 54(1) must also be amended to make it mandatory that every bill must be referred to the relevant select committee, other than in exceptional cases. If standing order 54(1) is not amended, it will still be possible for a ministry to rush through the first, second and third readings of a bill, even before the relevant select committee has concluded its scrutiny of the bill.
• Committee reports must be debated and voted on in the house: Another positive proposal by the standing orders committee is to include a specific time within the House of Representative’s agenda for discussion of select committee reports, through amendments to standing orders 14(1) and 16. However, their proposal intends to move the discussion of select committee reports to the special chamber, where there is no debate, merely a short process of questions and answers, and no certainty that the relevant minister will be required to respond. We recommend that committee reports must be debated in the main chamber of the house and that at the conclusion of the debate, the house must vote on a motion to have the report read and approved. Such a process will ensure that committee reports become part of the official record of the whole house, that ministers must provide their response to the reports on the record, and that all MPs’ feedback are also on the record.
• It is time for annual budget estimates to be reviewed by select committees: In keeping with the practices in other established parliaments, we recommend that the House of Representatives use this opportunity to expand the mandate and powers of the proposed permanent select committees to include budgetary review. This will enable the annual and supplementary ordinary and development estimates to be referred to, and scrutinised in depth by, select committees before the budget is passed by the house.

Weaknesses in existing rules relating to committees’ powers and operations not addressed: Finally, several research papers have pointed out the weaknesses in the existing powers accorded to House of Representatives committees under the standing orders, and these include the power to compel public officers to appear before them, to issue subpoenas for evidence, to commence committal proceedings and to conduct hybrid hearings and public inquiries. Unfortunately, the standing orders committee’s proposal does not include amendments to expand committees’ powers in this regard. Without sufficient powers, the proposed permanent committees will not be able to effectively perform their duties under the new rules.

We urge the government and all MPs to raise the concerns and recommendations expressed above during the debate on the motion to approve the standing orders committee’s statement, and to make improvements to the amendments proposed by the standing orders committee so that the purpose and potential of the House of Representatives’ select committees can be fully realised.

Initiated by:

Civil society groups

• Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih)
• Engage
• Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas)
• Project Stability and Accountability for Malaysia (Projek Sama)

Individuals

• Maha Balakrishnan
• Dr Tricia Yeoh
• Dr Lim Chee Han

Endorsed by:

1. Hayat
2. Liga Mahasiswa Malaysia
3. Gerakan Perempuan Melawan
4. Liga Mahasiswa UTM
5. Lawyer Kamek
6. Persatuan Pemangkin Daya Masyarakat (Rose)
7. Mandiri
8. Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia (SABM)
9. Liga Mahasiswa UniSZA
10. Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim)
11. The Center to Combat Corruption and Cronynism (C4 Center)
12. Shah Hakim Zain
13. Pacos Trust
14. Rasuah Busters
15. Idzuafi Hadi Kamilan

The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.

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