PETALING JAYA, March 6 — A coalition of citizens groups pushing for parliamentary reform today urged the federal government to reinstate the Parliamentary Services Act (PSA) and provide the Dewan Rakyat with total administrative and financial independence.

The Parliamentary Reform Proposal Group (GCPP) said this is a necessary first step towards allowing Parliament to do its job of scrutinising the actions and decisions by Putrajaya.

"MPs from both the opposition and ruling party have actually agreed to this, so the battle is half-won. Now it depends on what the executive will decide," said Maria Chin Abdullah, whose electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 is part of GCPP.

The push to reinstate the PSA is among four key recommendations that GCPP has drawn up in a 15-page proposal paper that the group intends to present to Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, who is in charge of Parliament.

The other recommendations are for the Dewan Rakyat to form more parliamentary committees to provide relief for the Public Accounts Committee — which the group says is grossly overloaded with issues — while also allowing for more efficient and systematic monitoring of government ministries.

GCPP also sought for MPs to be included in setting the agenda for every parliamentary meeting, as opposed to the current practice of it being set by Putrajaya.

The group added that each MP should be assigned a personal assistant and one research staff paid for by the government to replace the existing constituency development fund, which they claim is open to abuse and typically spent on social events instead of development projects.

Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) chief executive Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah stressed that there is a "dire need" for the proposed reforms as MPs are currently unable to do their jobs as lawmakers under the existing system.

The former Temerloh MP said there is a tendency for MPs to spend more time and resources on activities and programmes at the grassroots level, at the expense of their ability to participate in debating issues and policies in the Dewan Rakyat.

Saifuddin also emphasised the need for Parliament to have a more "participatory lawmaking process" in which MPs are given sufficient notice and the public are consulted before any bill is to be tabled.

"People are becoming more educated, more informed and want to participate. We need to widen the lawmaking process within our current system, so we are able to include many others such as non-MPs," he said.

Aside from Bersih 2.0, other members of the GCPP are Akademi Belia, Engage, the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas), Political Studies for Change (KPRU), the Society for the Promotion of Human Rights (Proham), Projek Beres, Tindak Malaysia and Undi Malaysia.

It is also supported by GMM and the Bar Council.