A Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) which originates in the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy (i.e: British Parliament), is made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to oversee a particular issue or area of issues to be reported back to the Parliament. Others adopting the same model are Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia.
Every ministerial portfolio should be subject to scrutiny by one parliamentary select committee, as is practised in the UK House of Commons. The Malaysian Cabinet under the Perikatan Nasional government 1.0 for instance, had 31 ministerial portfolios, but only nine PSCs are found. An increase in the number of PSCs to cover more ministries is critically needed to provide a check and balance to governmental decisions and should reflect the Dewan Rakyat composition of both government and opposition parties.
October 6, 2021 The government and the opposition have agreed to change the composition of all Parliamentary Special Select Committees and the matter is expected to be laid before the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday. Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun said the matter would first be brought to the House Committee tomorrow for a […]
July 19, 2021 (PN) Centre for Health and Social Policy chief executive officer (CEO) Azrul Mohd Khalib Galen, said Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) meetings should be broadcasted live to ensure participation of the public in the democratic process. In view of the state of Emergency imposed nationwide since January 12 this year, the public has […]
July 13, 2021 (PN) Following the news of the reconvening of Parliament, this webinar aimed to highlight the role of Parliament in policy making as well as the pivotal role played by Parliamentary Special Select Committees (PSSC). Unlike parliaments in the UK and Canada, which meet some 135-150 days a year, the Malaysian Parliament only […]
November 11, 2020 (PN) Nine bipartisan Special Select Committees (SSC) will be set up to replace the 10 SSCs formed during the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration following the announcement made by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun on November 2. The current SSCs operating are as follows: SSCs previously under PH The current […]
November 02, 2020 (PN) Perikatan Nasional’s Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun proposed the setting up of nine select committees which effectively abolished the select committees during the Pakatan Harapan administration. The special select committees would concern: – Fundamental Liberty and Constitutional Rights– Finance and Economy– Security– Agencies under the Prime Minister’s Department– Agriculture […]
(Attn: Cynthia Gabriel)
