KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 ― Parliament will have six new standing committees on top of the current five, said Wong Chen (PH ― Subang).
The PKR lawmaker told a press conference today that the six new committees will overlook various matters, but proposed more so that each ministry would have one overseeing its activities.
“In other parliaments, it is normal for one ministry to have an oversight committee monitoring it. This will help create check and balance and the committee members can learn from the respective minister. This will help create a continuity in governance.
“Then MPs will have more work to do instead of loitering and chit-chatting in Parliament and the MPs will be trained by the ministers on core and contemporary issues,” he said.
The six new committees are the Committee for Consideration of Bills, the Committee for Budget, the Committee on Rights and Gender Equality, the Committee on Major Public Appointments, the Committee on Defence and Home Affairs, and the Committee on Federal-State Relations.
The Public Accounts Committee member added that he has also published a paper recommending another nine standing committees to monitor the ministries.
He said each committee could oversee more than one ministry.
