MyGovt Reform Tracker

Parliamentary Select Committee

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.

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