PUTRAJAYA: Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said hopes the Parliamentary Services Act will materialise this year.

She said it was important for the Act, aimed at granting autonomy to Parliament in managing its affairs, to be enacted as it enables it to be more independent structurally.

The bill could possibly be tabled at the next parliamentary sitting in June.

"It is my hope that the Act will become a reality this year.

"This is important as it gives a new definition to the elements of separation of powers between the judiciary, executive and legislative.

"We hope that once the cabinet has made its decision, we can make amendments to the Federal Constitution," she said during the Legal Affairs Division monthly assembly today.

Azalina, however, acknowledged that the implementation may take some time but the amendment to the Act and the Constitution were a stepping stone.

Present were Legal Affairs Division director-general Zamri Misman as well as Legal Aid Department director-general Datuk Norazmi Mohd Narawi.

The Act was introduced in 1963, allowing Parliament to act as an independent body and manage its own affairs, including hiring and finances, but was repealed in 1992.

On March 13, Azalina told Parliament that the bill was nearing completion and the Act was 90 per cent ready.

In February, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul said the bill may be tabled in its upcoming sitting or at the next sitting.

He said the draft of the bill was ready but some matters needed to be ironed out before it could be tabled.

Calls to revive the law had been aired for a few years among members of parliament, including former Senate president Tan Sri Rais Yatim.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/04/1041591/azalina-hopes-parliamentary-services-act-will-be-enacted-year