Select panel to present Political Funding Bill

THE Political Funding Bill will be brought before one of the Parliamentary Special Select Committees before being tabled in Parliament, says Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) said the Dewan Rakyat Speaker will make an announcement on the formation of the special parliamentary select committees soon.

“The Political Funding Bill will first be referred to one of the parliamentary special select committees,” she said in her speech while winding up the debate on her ministry.

On March 6, Azalina said that the government was committed to all of its reform pledges, including its plan to set a two-term limit on the Prime Minister’s tenure in office.

“A policy paper on the Prime Minister’s 10-year tenure limit will soon be presented to the Cabinet for a decision,” she said in a statement.

Azalina said although it would take time to be fully realised, the limit on tenure was one of the reforms the government was committed to fulfilling.

She said the Legal Affairs Division values feedback from all Malaysians for continuous improvements and is determined to bring changes to reforms as quickly as possible.

On the separation of powers for the Attorney-General, she said the Cabinet has agreed to form a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the judiciary and law, where it is looking at the terms of reference on the issue of separation of powers, among others.

She also noted that much discussion is still needed on this matter from all relevant stakeholders.

“If we look at the Parliamentary Services Act, some of the parliamentary officers do not agree to specialisation in some departments.

“They still want to be fully placed under the auspices of the government; they do not want specialisation, so in terms of the Act, we need more discussion.

“Similarly, the Attorney-General’s Chambers may also not want specialisation, so we need to discuss this as well.

“So the terms of reference of the RCI will also refer to this matter.

“One of the discussions is to assess to what extent it is implemented, to what extent it will be implemented, and the time frame in which it will be implemented,” she said.