Dewan Negara adjourns sine die

Dewan Negara president Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim when announcing the adjournment said it was a historic sitting this time as the motion to establish three Select Committees was tabled and passed.

They are the People's Welfare Select Committee; Socio-Cultural, Communication and Education Select Committee and Integrity and Anti-Corruption Governance Select Committee.

"All these Select Committees will be important allies in the effort to transform Parliament," he said, adding that he wished to see all the senators working together to elevate the Dewan Negara to become a truly respected legislative assembly.

Meanwhile, he said the Dewan Negara had passed three bills during the sitting, namely the Temporary Measures for Government Financing [Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)] (Amendment) Bill 2021, the National Trust Fund (KWAN) (Amendment) Bill 2021 and Windfall Profit Levy (Amendment) Bill 2020.

Apart from that, Rais said the Dewan Negara unanimously approved the motion on Parliamentary Transformation, and made a resolution that the transformation of the legislative institution must be expedited.

"... specifically covering aspects of separation of powers, amending and empowering the Houses of Parliament (Privileges and Powers) Act 1952, reinstating the Parliamentary Services Act 1963, establishing a Select Committee with legislative powers, introducing the Code of Ethics for Members of Parliament and calling for constitutional amendments to Article 45 (4) (a) and (b)," he said.

He also thanked all the officers and staff of the Management Division of the Senate and Parliament over the successful handling of the meetings and ensured that there were no COVID-19 transmissions.