A group demanding parliamentary reforms will be presenting its proposal to minister in charge of parliamentary affairs Shahidan Kassim.

The group, which calls itself the Gabungan Cadangan Penambahbaikan Parlimen (GCPP), will be presenting the 15-page proposal to Shahidan at a meeting during the parliamentary session which begins on Monday.

Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah said they hope to meet Shahidan ( left ) next week, but as the session next week will be a busy one, the group will probably meet the minister the week after.

In a press conference today, Maria pointed out that despite Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak promising a “functional and inclusive democracy” on Malaysia Day in 2011, little was being done to attain this vision.

It was due to this that GCPP decided to work on a proposal of recommendations to reform Parliament.

The proposal includes recommendations of MPs from both sides of the political divide as well as input from the Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) and the Bar Council.

Urging the reintroduction of the Parliamentary Services Act, Maria said this will be a first step towards making Parliament both administratively and financially independent of the executive.

“Both the ruling and opposition MPs have actually urged this so the battle is half-won. The other half is subject to the executive's political will,” she said.

The group is also urging an increase in standing committees. The current standing committees only deal with the inner workings of Parliament.

‘PAC is over-burdened’

“This has resulted in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) being over-burdened when it comes to oversight of the executive, which, in turn, results in legislation being ‘rubber-stamped’ by Parliament,” Maria said.

The setting of the parliamentary agenda, likewise, needs to be reviewed as the current set-up has left practically no time to debate private member’s bills or for non-government business.

The group also emphasised on the allocations for research and constituency development, citing Indonesia where each MP has a personal assistant and a research assistant, paid for by the state.

“Our MPs and senators need timely, up-to-date, accurate and well-researched information for effective decision-making.

“Constituency and development funds should be scrapped in favour of federal funding for MPs’ offices and administration as this will put a stop to the current misuse for political campaigning,” Maria said.

Meanwhile, GMM chief executive officer Saifuddin Abdullah ( right ) believes there is a “dire need” for MPs to become lawmakers in the real sense of the word.

Saifuddin, who was himself a one-term MP and former deputy minister, said MPs currently had to balance their roles as lawmakers and grassroots representatives.

“There is the concern that MPs will be spending more resources at the grassroots level. There is nothing wrong with this, but MPs must become more of lawmakers,” he said.

Saifuddin also lamented the lack of time in parliamentary sessions for MPs to be involved in the lawmaking process.

“If there is lack of time to debate bills, what kind of quality of law is being passed?” he asked, adding that some MPs sometimes even missed a particular debate.