Parliamentary Special Select Committee given more clout, says Dewan Rakyat Speaker

KUALA LUMPUR: The operations of the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) will be enhanced in which members are allowed to discuss arising topics without referring to the relevant ministries.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul said the PSSC is allowed to discuss topics under the terms of reference of the committee as long as it does not conflict with matters that are currently being discussed by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

“The special select committee can discuss all matters that are deemed suitable under its terms of reference without notifying the minister.

“The Dewan Rakyat Speaker is authorised to decide if there are any disputes especially regarding witnesses called to provide evidence and related to the procedure for conducting the committee meeting,” he said in a press conference held at the Dewan Rakyat Speaker meeting room here on Tuesday (June 6).

The matters to be discussed in the special select committee will be decided by the respective chairperson.

Johari added that the special select committees will be able to table a motion to debate their report in the Lower House.

As such, each of the 10 special select committees will receive financial allocation and two research officers will be provided by Parliament for the committees to effectively carry out their duties.

“The special select committees will be provided a place to carry out their duties and following the practices in Parliament, all the discussions that took place will be recorded and have their own Hansard for the government to refer for follow-up action.

Johari said the improvements to the PSSC are among parliamentary reforms to ensure there are checks and balances in the government.

The 10 special select committee are chaired by eight ruling government Members of Parliament namely, Kuala Selangor MP Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (Health); Paya Besar MP Datuk Mohd Shahar Abdullah (Finance and Economy); Rasah MP Cha Kee Chin (Entrepreneurship, Cost of Living and Agriculture), Tanjong Manis Yusuf Abd Wahab (Infrastructure, Transport and Communication); Puchong MP Yeo Bee Yin (Women, Children and Community Development); Subang MP Wong Chen (International Relations and Trade Relations); Ranau MP Jonathan Yasin (Security) and Selayang MP William Leong (Human Rights, Elections and Institutional Reforms).

Indera Mahkota MP Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah (Nation Building, Education and Human Resource Development) and Kuala Terengganu MP Datuk Ahmad Amzad Mohamed @ Hashim (Environment, Science and Agriculture) are the two opposition members chairing the special select committee.

The members of each committee will comprise nine members with three from the opposition side to provide a bipartisan view.