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Media Statement (3) by Parliamentary Opposition Leader and DAP MP for Ipoh
Timor Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Saturday, 8th October 2005:

Call on Prime Minister to suspend all implementation of the Cabinet
decision to establish a Department of Parliament until approval by both
Houses of Parliament and full assurance that it is not the most serious
threat to the separation of powers doctrine pertaining to Parliament in
nation’s history

I am raising the alarm that the establishment of a Department of
Parliament can plunge the country into a grave constitutional crisis
concerning the doctrine of separation of powers akin to the judiciary
crisis of 1987 but this time pertaining to the usurpation of powers and
functions of Parliament by the Executive.

The director-general for the Department of Parliament has already been
appointed and is ready to move into Parliament next week to take over
large chunks of powers and functions currently exercised by the
parliamentary administration.

I am very disturbed and upset by this development, as it poses an
unprecedented and the gravest threat to the doctrine of separation of
powers concerning Parliament, and at the pace with which such a change
with far-reaching implications for parliamentary democracy is being
forced through without the fullest consultation with MPs, the civil
society and the Malaysian populace.

Malaysia risks being the laughing-stock of the global parliamentary
community as we would be the only country in Commonwealth Parliaments
where there is a Department of Parliament which virtually runs
Parliament, destroying its independence and autonomy.

India has a Ministry for Parliamentary Affairs but the Indian Department
of Parliamentary Affairs is external and separate from Parliament, and
its establishment does not encroach or usurp the powers of Parliament
by the Executive. Its functions are clearly delimited to “efficiently
handling diverse and enormous parliamentary work on behalf of the
Government in Parliament” and not to virtually take over the running of
Parliament.

I call on Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to suspend all
implementation of the Cabinet decision to establish a Department of
Parliament until MPs and civil society are satisfied that this is not the
most serious threat to the separation of powers doctrine pertaining to
Parliament in the nation’s history.



The designated director-general for the Department of Parliament should
stay put in his present post, and no action should be taken to establish
the Department of Parliament, until there is full approval by Parliament
and the civil society - in particular the two Chambers of Dewan Rakyat
and Dewan Negara.

In the case of Dewan Rakyat, the House Committee should convene an urgent
meeting to discuss the import and implications of a Department of
Parliament, submitting a report and recommendation to the House on how
it would impinge on the doctrine of separation of powers affecting
Parliament in general and the principle of parliamentary autonomy and
independence in particular.

A full debate and decision by the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara are
indispensable for the establishment of a Department of Parliament which
will completely restructure the powers, functions and administration of
Parliament.


-Lim Kit Siang
-http://limkitsing.com
-http://limkitsing.blogspot.com

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