IF Parliament is the place where laws are supposedly made for the overall benefit of the ordinary Malaysians, then it is a step in the right direction the plan by Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof to allow for the public to attend the proceedings of the special select committee meetings by next year.

Additionally, these proceedings will be livestreamed for the benefit of those who cannot physically be in the law-making body, which would go a long way towards reinforcing transparency in the parliamentary system.

This would also help concerned and interested public to understand better certain public issues tabled and discussed by these committees and at the same time, keeping track on the performance of the politicians who purportedly represent the interests of the electorate.

It is also commendable that since Pakatan Harapan came to power last year, 10 new select committees have been created by Parliament: budget; major appointments; rights and gender equality; defence and home affairs; federal-state relations; consideration of bills; election; human rights and constitutional affairs; international relations and trade and science; and innovation and environment.

Parliament has also created two all-party parliamentary groups (APPGS) on sustainable development goals and policy for refugees, which are open to the participation of academics, civil society groups and industry professionals.

In this regard, perhaps we could do with a few more committees to look at equally important matters, such as ethnic relations; minority affairs, education; and backbench business.

These are to address issues of increasing exploitation of race and religion by certain politicians in recent times, concerns of minority groups, problems of national education system, and providing parliamentary time for non-government business.

While it is a significant progress that the parliamentary select committee meetings are made accessible to the public, it is also crucial that their composition can command public respect and confidence so as to ensure worthwhile watching for the rakyat.

Members of these committees, thus, should not only be those who have the interests and concerns of the rakyat close to their hearts, but also the ones who are competent and committed to their important responsibilities.

These cross-party committees should be able to select and examine issues objectively and in great depth, without having to score political points as they would tend to do in the Dewan Rakyat chamber.

Ministers and officials, for instance, can be made to be more accountable with a committee that is bold and assertive in asking searching questions.

This obviously gives meat to the notion of accountability, which would also help prevent financial leakages.

In the United Kingdom, for example, the chairman of a government agency is made to account by a select committee for the sluggish performance of the body he or she heads, given the high amount of remuneration that is received for that position.

Clearly, politicians whose so-called forte is only to flaunt their racial bigotry and sexism or playing clown in Parliament have no place in these important committees.

The robustness of these committees is also dependent on the financial allocation that they receive, which, in turn, would determine how good their support staff is in terms of doing research and providing administrative assistance. 

With these developments, it is hoped that our Parliament is made more transparent and accountable to the ordinary people, whose lives are largely shaped by the laws crafted. – December 13, 2019.