How the ‘mother of all reforms’ Parliamentary Services Bill aims to restore Parliament’s independence

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 — The Dewan Rakyat today passed the Parliamentary Services Bill 2025.

Touted as “the mother of all reforms”, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the Bill is meant to elevate Parliament’s status and make it independent from the executive. Currently, Parliament is under the oversight of the Prime Minister’s Department.

The Bill is essentially a law aimed at giving the legislative arm full administrative autonomy by decoupling it from the executive branch’s control over Parliament’s operations, human resources, and finances.

In summary, this means transferring the power to manage the institution to a governing body that answers to Parliament, rather than the Prime Minister’s Department, with a workforce that is separate from the public service.

Parliament’s management body will have the power to set its own priorities, including determining who and how many workers it wants to hire, as well as setting salaries. For example, if the management body decides it needs more capable researchers, it will no longer be constrained to hiring from the public service and can look to the private sector if it deems that to be the best option for the job.

It will also enjoy some budgetary autonomy as the management body is empowered to “oversee all financial matters relating to the parliamentary service”.

However, the Bill stops short of giving Parliament the power to set its own budget, according to Maha Balakrishnan, a parliamentary and policy advocacy specialist. The amount Parliament receives each year will ultimately depend on the Ministry of Finance.

Azalina told Parliament on Tuesday the Bill stipulates that the MoF must provide for “sufficient” annual allocations for the Senate and House of Representatives.

Who sits in this management body?

Under the Bill, the most powerful decision-making body will be the Parliamentary Service Commission.

The commission will consist of the President of the Senate as a Chairman, the Speaker of the House of Representatives as a Co-Chairman, the Deputy President of the Senate, two Deputy Speakers of the House of Representatives, two senators and four MPs with two of them being the Opposition.

Other members will be the Clerk to the Senate, the Clerk to the House of Representatives, the Secretary General of Treasury or his/her representative and the Director General of Public Service or his/her representative as ex-officio members, and the Chief Administrator of Parliament also as an ex-officio member.

Among the commission’s powers and key functions are setting the terms and conditions of appointment of a member of the Parliamentary Service and “oversee all financial matters relating to the Parliamentary Service”.

The Bill is silent about how these appointments will be made, however, raising concerns about whether or not it could guarantee impartiality. There are suggestions that the Bill should make it clear that the executive will have no role in the appointment of these remaining members of the commission.

“Instead, they should be appointed by Parliament through the settled procedure in place for all major parties to negotiate the appointment of parliamentary select committee members, which includes the opposition,” Maha said.

Why does it matter?

The Bill mirrors similar legislation in countries like the United Kingdom, aiming to provide a legal framework that enables Parliament to function effectively without interference from the executive branch.

Ultimately, the purpose of such a law is to enhance the scrutiny of government policies and actions without fear of reprisal from the executive. The original Parliamentary Services Act was enacted in 1963 under the administration of then-Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman but was repealed in 1992 during the administration of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Whether the Bill will effectively strengthen checks and balances remains to be seen. However, advocates for parliamentary reform argue that its introduction is a step in the right direction toward restoring Parliament’s independence.