PUBLISHED : 5 Aug 2023 at 08:25
A total of 35 standing committees of the House of Representatives will be set up before the new government is formed.
The House met on Friday, but the session did not start right away due to the lack of quorum.
While waiting for more members, which took about an hour, parliament president Wan Muhamad Noor Matha opened the floor for MPs to raise any concerns about such delays.
Mr Wan told the meeting that a Move Forward Party (MFP) MP had proposed the formation of 35 standing committees before the new government is sworn in.
He said he told Pichet Chuamuangphan, the first deputy House speaker, to chair a discussion to create 35 standing committees of 15 members each.
He said the secretariat’s parliamentary office will work on the details, to be completed by the end of the week.
MFP MP Parit Wacharasindhu, who raised the issue in the meeting, thanked Mr Wan for addressing his concern.
He said having the standing committees even before knowing which parties will be in the government or on the opposition side will have benefits for the checks and balances process, Mr Parit added.
Previous statistics showed that most of the presidents of standing committees were from political parties that have their people as ministers.
Therefore, appointing committee members and the presidents of such committees before the government is formed would enhance the rigour of the checks and balances carried out by the groups, he said.
Among the 35 standing committees will be the Committee on Legal Affairs, Justice, and Human Rights; the Committee on Transport; the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on the Armed Forces.