KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today called on South-east Asian elected representatives to embrace public scrutiny, reminding them of their duty to serve voters.
Addressing the Inter-Asean Parliamentary Assembly here, Anwar said Prime Minister’s Question Time was introduced in Malaysia’s Parliament to make policy debates more transparent and encourage more democratic discourse.
“When we introduced in the last few years PM’s Question Time, I wasn’t sure if I made the right decision as I’m stuck there on a weekly basis,” Anwar quipped.
Prime Minister’s Question Time is an hour dedicated to the prime minister taking questions and answering them directly.
“But I think not withstanding our personal reflection and views on this, I must say it (makes for a) healthy discourse — it puts the prime minister and the government on guard. This gives real meaning and essence to what we call democratic accountability,” Anwar said.
“Democracy isn’t just about elections every four, five years. Democracy is about a system that would allow the ruling party to be questioned, criticised and assessed by the people.”
Malaysia, as the sitting chair, is host to the 46th Asean Summit that will take place next month. Anwar said this year’s summit could the association’s most significant to date, with leaders from three superpowers expecting to attend, including US President Donald Trump.
Malaysia made inclusivity and sustainability as a key agenda of its chairmanship, with Anwar consistently reminding members to put the people first in development and trade policy.
Anwar is also championing the fight against corruption, a message repeatedly stressed when addressing Asean state leaders.
Malaysia’s total trade with Asean amounted to RM765.09 billion, representing a fourth of Malaysia’s total trade for that year.
Total trade of all Asean member states with both internal and external partners was approximately US$3.6 trillion, making it a key trading bloc.
