KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 1 — Civil servants on duty in Parliament will not be affected by the introduction of the Parliamentary Services Bill 2025.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul said services in Parliament will undergo a division in administration, or dichotomy, between the Parliamentary Services Council and civil administration.
He said the council will be jointly chaired by the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara speakers and assisted by four deputy speakers, while the civil administration will be led by a chief administrator and civil servants from their respective parent services.
Johari said should the bill be approved, civil servants in Parliament will be given the choice of remaining in Parliament or to return to their original parent services in the ministry or department.
“Those not assigned to the Dewan will carry on as usual, they are government officers… civil servants who have parent services like the Public Services Department (JPA).
“They are not tied to anything contained in the (bill), they are still (assigned) there (in Parliament), except if they are transferred somewhere else. That’s not within our power to block,” he said at a media conference at the Parliament building yesterday, with Parliament chief administrator Datuk Ahmad Husaini Abdul Rahman.
Also, Johari said if the Parliamentary Services Bill is passed, the appointment of the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara secretaries requires the consent of the King.
“Secretaries of both Houses have direct responsibility to the speaker and this is independent of the JPA. The House, through the council, can appoint anyone it deems qualified to be secretary and according to the law, must obtain approval from the King,” he said.
He noted that the bill could return Parliament its independence, and hopes all MPs, whether backbenchers or the opposition, would support the bill that is scheduled to be tabled for the second reading next week.
“Parliamentary independence means Parliament has on its own the freedom to conduct duties contained in the constitution, so we are no longer part of the executive, but must be separated from it,” he said.
The Parliamentary Services Act 2025, tabled for the first reading on Monday, aims to set up parliamentary services as separate from the civil service.
It also provides for the establishment of a council that will appoint and determine the terms and conditions of members of the parliamentary service, monitor all financial matters relating to the parliamentary service, and develop and implement related programmes and training.
— Bernama
