Dewan Rakyat to cap ministerial replies at six minutes

Ministerial question time in the Dewan Rakyat will be revamped starting Monday with each set of question and reply capped at six minutes.

In a statement today, Dewan Rakyat secretary Roosme Hamzah said this would enable more questions to be replied during the 90-minute session as part of ongoing parliamentary reforms.

In practice, the Dewan Rakyat only hears six to seven questions being answered during such sessions, which are often disrupted by banter, arguments and even the occasional pantun (Malay poem).

Questions that are not answered during question time will be answered in writing and MPs will not have the chance to ask supplementary questions.

Question time is a key feature of the Westminster system designed to provide Parliament with the power to hold the executive to account. Thus, the more time for questions the better.

Since coming to power, the Pakatan Harapan administration has introduced a number of new parliamentary select committees as part of parliamentary reform efforts.

Non-salaried and bipartisan, the committees draw their power from the ability to organise hearings to scrutinise how public funds are spent.

The next Dewan Rakyat sitting will begin on Monday and will be opened by the new Yang di-Pertuan Agong.