Senate passes Parliamentary Service Bill

The Dewan Negara passed the Parliamentary Service Bill 2025 today which aims to ensure Parliament’s effectiveness in carrying out its functions as enshrined in the Federal Constitution.

The Bill was passed with a majority voice vote after being debated by several senators.

When winding up the debate, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said said the Bill contains 15 clauses compared to eight in the Parliamentary Services Act 1963 which was repealed in 1992.

She said the most important clause in the Bill was on the Parliamentary Service Council which may establish any committee as deemed necessary or expedient to assist the Council in carrying out its functions.

“This means that there will not be just one committee; there will also be a Parliamentary Service Appeals Committee as mentioned in Clause 9, the Parliamentary Service Disciplinary Committee (Clause 8), and the Parliamentary Service Promotion Committee (Clause 7),” she said.

Earlier, the Dewan Negara also passed the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2025 to strengthen the independence of the institution of Parliament and the principle of separation of powers.

The Dewan Negara sitting continues on Monday.

A PM willing to hand over power

This afternoon, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the Parliamentary Service Bill 2025 can allow Parliament to function as an independent and sovereign institution.

“We are serious about fulfilling our mandate and promises. At present, Parliament is placed under the Prime Minister’s Department.

“However, the prime minister chose to hand over (this power) and strengthen it (Parliament) as an independent body.

“It’s easy to talk about institutional reform, but it is not that easy to get a prime minister who is willing to hand over power... but we have to do it because this will strengthen the spirit,” he said when tabling the Constitution (Amendment) Bill for second reading in the Dewan Negara today.

The prime minister explained that the constitutional amendment was also a framework to strengthen the principle of separation of powers.

He said separating legislative, executive, and judicial powers was important and clearly demonstrated during the administration of the first prime minister, the late Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj.

He said the Parliamentary Services Act was introduced during that era before it was repealed in 1992.

He said Parliament - the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara - must have freedom in interpreting the meaning of reform.

“We are doing this after discussing with the (Parliament) staff so as to ensure their opportunities for promotion are there. That is why there is some flexibility for them to choose their (types of) service,” he said.

- Bernama

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