KUALA LUMPUR: The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2025 must be passed so that the Parliamentary Services Bill 2025 can allow Parliament to function as an independent and sovereign institution.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that the proposed amendment to the Federal Constitution would not only strengthen the independence of the institution of Parliament but also be a major success in the country’s institutional reform.
“We are serious about fulfilling our mandate and promises. At present, Parliament is placed under the Prime Minister’s Department.
“However, the Prime Minister chose to hand over (this power) and strengthen it (Parliament) as an independent body. It’s easy to talk about institutional reform, but it is not that easy to get a Prime Minister who is willing to hand over power… but we have to do it because this will strengthen the spirit,” he said when tabling the Constitution (Amendment) Bill for the second reading in the Dewan Negara today.
Anwar said the Constitution (Amendment) Bill had also enabled the Parliamentary Services Bill 2025 which was discussed for many years to be tabled and passed in the Dewan Rakyat.
The Prime Minister explained that the constitutional amendment was also a framework to strengthen the principle of separation of powers, saying that the separation of legislative, executive and judicial powers was important and clearly demonstrated during the administration of the first Prime Minister, the late Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj.
He said the Parliamentary Services Act was introduced during that era before it was repealed in 1992.
He said Parliament – the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara – must have freedom in interpreting the meaning of reform.
“We are doing this after discussing with the (Parliament) staff so as to ensure their opportunities for promotion are there. That is why there is some flexibility for them to choose their (types of) service,” he said.
