From The Sun,

Parliament gets its own department B. Suresh Ram KUALA LUMPUR: The government has agreed to the establishment of a Malaysian Parliament Department, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz. The decision to establish the department was made on Sept 15, and will see it managing the affairs and administration of both the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara, he said. Speaking to reporters at Parliament Lobby here on Thursday, Nazri said the move was to enhance and improve the effectiveness of Parliament as well as the management of the august body. In line with this, he said the Public Services Department will appoint a Director-General soon to head the department, which would come under the purview of a minister (in this case Nazri, who is in charge of Parliamentary Affairs).cont..

Malaysian Parliament Department? What on earth is that? Putting this department under the jurisdiction of the federal government may result in a conflict of interest pertaining to matters of the Parliament and its staff. Moreover the Director-General will be appointed by the BN Government, thus indirectly putting certain powers of the Parliament under its authority.

Ultimately the Parliament should be an independant body. It is a house of elected representatives and no outer authority has the right to influence the decisions of the Parliament. I guess many aspects of this department and its responsibilities are not yet known. Are they there just to serve an administrative purpose as claimed? Why can't the Parliament resolve its own issues? Should the body not elect a team of their own to manage its administrative workload?

The government owes the people a greater explanation as to the actual purpose of this department lest it be deemed as another political ploy to hijack the parliament.