The Bar Council Constitutional Law Committee, through the MyConstitution campaign, presents the third forum in the series MPs in Conversation forum. Admission is free.
Details: –
Date: 25 November 2011 (Friday)
Time: 8 – 10pm
Venue: Raja Aziz Addruse Auditorium, Bar Council, No. 15 Lebuh Pasar Besar, 50050 Kuala Lumpur
Speakers:
Dato Saifuddin Abdullah (MP, Temerloh)
Dr Micheal Jeyakumar Devaraj (MP, Sg Siput)
Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh (Chairman, GMI)
Abdul Halim Mansor (Sectary-General, MTUC)
Have you ever thought that a law should be abolished or changed, or that a new law should be made? You might be concerned about existing laws (or the absence of laws) relating to any number of issues, for example discrimination of minorities, mistreatment of animals, political participation by University students, detention without trial, regulation of competition, workers’ rights, tax rates, or electoral reform.
How do you get Parliament to listen to your views, or that of your organisation? Is there a consultation process with interested groups when a law is first proposed or drafted, and can you get your views heard then? How do you effectively push for changes in the law? Are Members of Parliament willing to listen?
What role does a Member of Parliament play in the law-making process? Does he/she scrutinise all Bills and consult with others on the content? Is there healthy debate in Parliament on Bills, and does this debate lead to changes being made to them? Are Members of Parliament concerned about what the people think, and what steps do they take to find out about the concerns of the people in relation to laws?
In the The People’s Voice – Getting Parliament to Listen forum, you can hear from Members of Parliament and those who have worked to bring about a change in our laws.
This forum is the third in a series of public for a entitled “MPs in Conversation” featuring Members of Parliament and commentators, and is conducted by the Bar Council Constitutional Law Committee in collaboration with The Nut Graph and with the support of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.
Parliamentary reforms to improve its scrutiny of the executives (government) would address the above issue 'people's voice – getting parliament to listen'. Malaysia has yet to adopt the Recommended Benchmark for Legislatures prepared by CPA in 2006 with the objectives of strengthening and promoting democratic values among its members. Dato Shafiee Afdal was Chairman of the CPA Executive Cmttee from 2008 – 2011 but, Malaysia has yet to initiate the recommended benchmark. At the CPA cference in London last July a workshop to discuss the issue of 'Reform of Parliament in Commonwealth was also attended by Minister of Parliament Dato Nazri. The Selangor Speaker raised the issue of human rights in the Cwealth countries and the Speaker of Penang raised the issue of CPA Cmtee to give a rating (AAA, BBB) to Cwealth members ctries on democratic reform and values. Reforms to improve legislative and oversight will result in strong committees and increase competency, acoountability and transparency. The Pakatan States could initiate reform of their legislature.But, then,the Speaker's Annual Conference one of the platforms to discuss the issue in Malaysia has yet to meet since 2007.