Dewan Negara Adjourns After Passing 26 Bills In 12 Days

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 (Bernama) -- The third meeting of the third session of the 15th Parliamen adjourned today after sitting for 12 days since Dec 2, with 26 Bills passed.

Throughout the session, Dewan Negara passed the Cyber Security Bill 2024, the Penal Code (Amendment) (No 2) Bill 2024, the Criminal Code (Amendment) (No 2) Bill 2024 and the Legal Profession (Amendment) Bill 2024 under the Prime Minister’s Department.

Also, the Trustees Bill (Amendment) 2024, the Trustees (Incorporation) (Amendment) Bill 2024, the Water Services Industry (Amendment) Bill 2024, the Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) (Amendment) Bill 2024 and the Syariah Court Civil Procedure (Federal Territories) (Amendment) Bill 2024 under the same ministry were passed.

In addition, the Communications and Multimedia (Amendment) Bill 2024 under the Communications Ministry and the Data Sharing Bill 2024 under the Digital Ministry were passed.

One of the highlights of the sitting was the presence of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the Finance Minister, at Dewan Negara for the second reading of the Supply Bill 2025 on Dec 4, when he announced several additional initiatives, including a higher minimum wage and targeted aid for the B40 group.

The Budget 2025 was passed by Dewan Negara with majority vote agreeing on Dec 12 after six days of debate and winding up at the committee stage by ministries involved, while other Bills approved under the Finance Ministry included the Finance Bill 2024 and Measures for the Collection, Administration and Enforcement of Tax Bill 2024, the Labuan Business Activity Tax (Amendment) (No 2) Bill 2024, the Labuan Companies (Amendment) Bill 2024 and the Labuan Foundation (Amendment) Bill 2024.

Besides this, the Labuan Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Partnerships (Amendment) Bill 2024 and the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities (Amendment) Bill 2024 were also passed, along with the National Wages Consultative Council (Amendment) Bill 2024 and the Sarawak Labour Ordinance (Amendment) Bill 2024 under the Human Resources Ministry.

Dewan Negara Speaker Datuk Awang Bemee Awang Ali Basah congratulated all Dewan Negara members in his adjournment speech for taking part in debating all the Bills brought from the Dewan Rakyat, noting that it was a new record as they were passed in six days.

“I recommend that all members study and use the input from the reports tabled, whether as debate material or to evaluate a Bill in the future.

“I hope the government will provide responses for the recommendations tabled by the special select committees. I also would like to recommend that this momentum be kepted up and to guarantee the function of this body as the Upper House,” he added.

Awang Bemee also thanked several senators whose services will be up soon including Datuk Seri Zurainah Musa on Dec 21.

He expressed his deepest appreciation and thanks to all Dewan Negara staff and management who ensured that the meeting progressed well.

“Merry Christmas to all senators who celebrate it and to all, Happy New Year 2025,” he said, as he adjourned the sitting to a date to be determined later.

-- BERNAMA