KUALA LUMPUR: The opposition bloc will establish a strong check and balance mechanism to ensure the government lives up to expectations.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said by next week, Perikatan Nasional (PN) would have monitoring groups that would each keep minister on their toes and take them to task if national issues were poorly dealt with.

These monitoring groups will go the extra mile to come up with ideas and proposed solutions to issues that need attention, if the government members fail to respond quickly and satisfactorily.

Hamzah said the representatives of these groups would also be open for engagements with the media, if ministers and deputy ministers fail to respond to their queries.

This, he said, would provide the media with an alternative channel for information.

"PN aspires to be an opposition bloc that serves the country and the interests of the people.

"We are working for the rakyat and we will ensure that everything works in line with the government policies.

"If policies are not being managed properly, we will be sure to voice out our views for the sake of the country," he said adding that this initiative would be discussed with PN's leadership soon.

Hamzah, who is the Larut member of parliament, said this at the first Concorde Club talks series for this year.

The Concorde Club is a forum on current issues by selected speakers initiated by veteran journalists including Star Media Group's group editorial and corporate affairs adviser Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai.

Present was New Straits Times group editor Farrah Naz Karim.

PN is represented by 74 members of parliament. Nine of them are former ministers and at least seven were deputy ministers.

Those expected to lead these monitoring groups are those who had served Putrajaya in recent times.

Hamzah himself had formerly held the home and domestic trade and consumer affairs portfolios, and was also a deputy foreign minister.

Another former minister is Bersatu vice-president Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee, who held the agriculture and food industries portfolio in the 14th parliamentary term.

Hamzah said, having served Putrajaya for many years, it would only be fair for the opposition to support the government if it stayed on the right track.

The government and the opposition, he added, must sit together when it mattered, so that any decisions made were sustainable for the foreseeable future.

"We must first allow (Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) him to work and stabilise the economy. If he cannot do that, there will be political instability," he said.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/politics/2023/01/867162/hamzah-pn-will-step-if-anwar-administration-fails-nsttv