MORE parliamentary standing committees are expected to be formed in the next Parliament meeting, which will start next week, said Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof.

The Dewan Rakyat speaker said the new committees will ensure all ministries and their work will be monitored.

“All ministries will be included in a committee system,” he told a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.

Six new standing committees were set up last month, that is, the Consideration of Bills Committee, Budget Committee, Rights and Gender Equality Committee, Major Public Appointments Committee, Defence and Home Affairs Committee, and the Federal State Relations Committee.

Ariff said the six committees have been meeting almost weekly since they were formed.  

He said the system has been running efficiently despite it being newly formed.  

“We can’t expect to see immediate results once the committee system is in place. It has been running very fast.  

“It will take some time but it is already on the move. I am confident the system will run smoothly,” said Ariff, adding that the reports prepared by the committees will be tabled in the parliament meetings.

He said the committees will have debates and look into issues in details that cannot be taken care of in general Dewan Rakyat sittings.  

Other committees that were formed earlier are the Public Accounts Committee, Standing Orders Committee, House Committee, Privileges Committee, Select Committee.

Ariff said Parliament should be people-friendly and open for the public to share their insights and interact with members of parliament, the speaker, and even parliament officers.  

“We want feedback. We can interact with them as they give their suggestions. It’s a two-way street.  

“It is healthy for a system to have this process interaction, unlike the previous Parliament in which some suggestions were taken into consideration and some were not.

“But we want an improved system so that outsiders have an avenue to have harmonious interactions and discussions,” he added. – March 2, 2019.