G25 urges Parliament to step up its oversight function

KUALA LUMPUR: To promote greater accountability and transparent governance, Parliament should perform its oversight function regularly by establishing parliamentary select committees, said the G25 group of prominent Malays.
It has proposed that Parliament be more assertive in its role to protect the interests of the public against the "abuse of power".
"We are respectfully proposing that Members of Parliament, as the representatives of the people, carry out their duty more effectively as the watchdog which ensures ministries and departments are fully accountable for financial management and how budgetary allocations are spent," the group said in a statement today.
Following the recent financial controversies in the country, including the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) saga, the group said this "participatory approach" is timely as Parliament is the only authority that can question a minister's spending.
"For instance, the existence of a select committee on Malaysia's external debt could have prevented the 1MDB fallout as questions raised on its foreign currency debt could have prompted a more prudent financial operation of the company."
G25 added that the committees could engage paid qualified staff as well as lawyers, accounting firms or senior professors to prepare comprehensive reports and questions for inquiry sessions with ministers, civil servants and anyone called up by the committee.
"Similar to that in the United States and the United Kingdom, the committees must produce reports to be tabled in the full Houses of Parliament for debate and made transparent to the public," the group stressed.
Citing examples of cases in the US where several top bankers were indicted following public hearings by congressional committees, G25 said the parliamentary select committee system would help save billions of ringgit which would otherwise be lost through either poor management or unethical conduct of ministers and civil servants.
"Citizens will have access to fact-based testimonies by witnesses and independent professionals on issues of public concern, and will not need to only rely on social media reports which may be false, inaccurate and unfair to the government," the group added.