Dewan Negara mulls introducing mechanism to summon ministers

SHAH ALAM: The Dewan Negara is mulling the introduction of a mechanism where ministers can be summoned to the House to address issues of national importance.
Dewan Negara president Datuk Seri S.A. Vigneswaran said many senators had informed him that they want the Upper House to be granted more authority to get ministers to respond to urgent matters.
"There is indeed a plan to allow Dewan Negara to call up ministers to answer sensitive issues or matters of public interest," he said.
"Yes, it is still in planning and discussion. We have to look into this matter based on the requirements of Dewan Negara," he told theSun during a Deepavali open house event here.
Many senators had also voiced their disappointment before, stating that the Dewan Negara did not get much attention from ministers due to the practice of sending their deputies to respond to the House.
He said the Dewan Negara's approach was different to the Minister's Question Time (MQT) introduced by the Dewan Rakyat this year.
The Dewan Rakyat had introduced a special 30-minute MQT slot to allow lawmakers to pose questions to the respective ministers within a 24-hour period.
Vigneswaran however said the Dewan Rakyat had to resort to such a move as "much time was wasted on quarrelling".
"It (Dewan Rakyat) does not have the luxury of time. Therefore, it had to introduce the MQT as well as the Special Chamber," he said.
"But in Dewan Negara the debates are conducted in a calm manner.
"Due to the fewer number of members in Dewan Negara, we have a lot of time for debates," he added.
He also said that there was no need for Dewan Negara to totally emulate the reforms made by the Lower House, including the introduction of MQT.
He added introducing a permanent slot to have ministers coming to Parliament might disrupt them from performing their ministerial duties effectively.
"You cannot tie up the ministers unless it is important," he said.