Hisamudin among three sworn in as senators today

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has consented to their appointments to take effect from today until Oct 3, 2023.

Apart from Hisamudin, who is also Putrajaya UMNO Information chief, Penang DAP secretary Lim Hui Ying and Terengganu PAS Commissioner Datuk Husain Awang, were also sworn in after being re-elected by their respective State Legislative Assemblies.

Hisamudin, 49, from Bota, Perak, is also chief executive officer of Gen Rekabumi (M) Sdn Bhd and, Malaysian Football League (MFL) Board member and FAM Futsal and Beach Soccer Committee deputy chairman.

At a press conference after the swearing-in ceremony, Hisamudin said he would focus on the lives of civil servants in Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur, as well as issues relating to sports, tourism and community as a whole.

"I would like to express my gratitude to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for consenting to my appointment, and also to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, (UMNO) party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Ku Nan (Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor) for nominating me," he said.

Meanwhile, Rais in his speech at the ceremony earlier, said the Parliament is currently working on a transformation to give a new breath of life into the Dewan Negara and Dewan Rakyat with the draft of the Bill and the Cabinet Memorandum on the transformation had already been submitted to the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar on Sept 30 to be scrutinised and approved by the government.

He said through the transformation, the Senate would be empowered with the formation of three Special Select Committees with legislative powers, namely the Special Select Committee on People's Welfare, Special Select Committee on Socio-Cultural, Communication and Education, and Special Select Committee on Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption.

At the same time, he said there was a need to review the senator election and appointment process so that Article 45 of the Federal Constitution on the profession and the composition of the Senate could be well translated.

"In this context, I will leave it to all the senators to look into and debate it so that a comprehensive solution could be achieved for the benefit of the august hall," he said.