Press Statement By Kelvin Yii:
I have sent in an official letter to the Parliament Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun requesting his immediate action to increase the numbers of committee members both in the current Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) for Health, Science and Innovation and also all other PSSCs in order to properly reflect the balance and proportion of each party within the House (Parliament) as stated in the Parliament Standing Order.
Based on the Parliament Standing Oder 82(1)
- (1) Every Select Committee shall be so far as is practicable, the balance between the parties within the House is reflected in the Committee
This is in view of the need for new selection of members in the PSSC for Health, Science and Innovation after the recent appointment of the Member of Parliament of Sipitang YB Yamani Hafez Musa as the Deputy Finance Minister II, making him part of the executive.
Members of the PSSC are generally appointed from members of Parliament that are not part of the executive.
That is why I opinion that this is the best opportunity for us to correct the proportion of the members in this committee and also all other committees to fully reflect the requirements under the specific standing orders. This gives more opportunities for more MPs to participate effectively in national lawmaking and policymaking processes.
Currently our committee is represented by 1 from DAP(PH), 2 from UMNO(BN), 1 each from PAS(PN), GPS(PN) and an independent (PN). This is not reflective of to proportion in the House which is at:
That is why I believe the distribution of all the 63 seats in all the 9 Parliament Special Select Committees at this moment should be reflective of such ratio. I strongly believe with adherence to the requirements of the Standing order will not only allow more MPs to be included into the process of policymaking and law-making, but also strengthen bi-partisan parliamentary oversight through such committees on the executive which is important for a
vibrant parliamentary democracy.
Currently there are about 154 government backbenchers and opposition lawmakers who can sit on the committees. With nine PSSCs, only 61 MPs get to sit on them and the public accounts committee (PAC), and five other MPs are able to sit only on one or more of the four other standing committees.
This leaves 88 parliamentarians with no executive, house or committee responsibilities and this should be improved to fully utilise the role of parliamentarian to search for better solutions in laws and policies that will eventually benefit the people.
That is why I hope that the Speaker will adopt such needed reform and put into such important consideration to the Parliament’s Selection Committee to adjust and increase the numbers of MPs in each committee to properly reflect the balance and proportion of each party within the House (Parliament) as stated in the Parliament Standing Order.
Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen
Chairman PSSC Health, Science & Innovation
