Dewan Rakyat Passes Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2025

KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 (Bernama) -- The Dewan Rakyat today passed the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2025, aimed at making an institutional reform and improvement to the country's main democratic institution, the Parliament.

The bill was passed after receiving support from 148 Members of Parliament (MPs) through bloc voting.

Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul said 17 MPs were not present, while 57 others abstained.

The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2025 aims to amend, among others, Article 56 and Article 57 of the Federal Constitution by inserting a new Clause (5A).

The clause states that a person elected to be the President of the Senate and the Speaker or Deputy Speaker of Dewan Rakyat does not lose their eligibility to hold the position due to their membership in the Parliamentary Services Council established under a federal law.

Earlier, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, while winding up the debate on the bill, said that the amendments made are the first step to provide financial and administrative autonomy to the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara, which are the pillars of Parliament.

Azalina emphasised that the amendments made are not for the executive or to give more power to the government but rather to provide true freedom to Parliament.

She said the Dewan Rakyat and the Senate secretaries, for example, are the experts of Parliament, and their appointments and promotions should not be decided by the executive but rather by the legislative institution itself.

“They love their jobs, but their salaries are low, they have no vehicles, no researchers, they can't afford to travel abroad, can't afford to buy plane tickets, and the economic situation is tough.

“They are experts in the field of Parliament, and if they have to be replaced, we want to replace them with the best, not pressured by the executive on who they want, but who we want. This includes chairpersons and those who sit on the Parliamentary Services Council.

“We don't know how long we will govern, so we want an independent Parliament, and we need to be responsible as Members of Parliament. When Parliament is independent, it won't be easily dissolved,” she said.

-- BERNAMA