Debating the King’s address in the Dewan Rakyat today, the Umno MP, who formerly served as a deputy speaker, said the powers granted to a parliamentary select committee (PSC) to summon individuals must be specified in detail.
This topic was hotly debated in the House last week.
“There is a huge lacuna in our Standing Orders, where we do not know whether we (PSC) can summon an individual via an invitation or a subpoena.
“Many government officials are not sure whether their attendance should be made mandatory. They would probably only attend (the PSC hearings) out of respect for the invitation.”
Azalina also said there was an absence of guidelines in Malay that could be used by all PSCs when it came to summoning individuals.
“In the court, we have the service of notice that both the Speaker and myself are familiar with as ex-lawyers. If you don’t attend the court hearing, you are considered to be in contempt of court.
“But in Parliament, we don’t have the teeth (to summon individuals).”
Azalina also highlighted that even if the summoned government officials attended the hearings, they were bound by the Official Secrets Act 1972 and, as such, could not share information on certain matters that were categorised as classified.
“This has to be explained so that MPs would know what they can ask (the summoned individuals) as well as what kind of answers they can expect.”
Last week, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Harun said only a PSC, not him, had the power to summon people to appear to provide their statements.
He was responding to opposition MPs who asked him to state his opinion on the refusal of MACC chief Azam Baki to appear before the PSC on Agencies under the Prime Minister’s Department on Jan 19 to explain his alleged ownership of shares and warrants in two public listed companies in 2015 and 2016.
During the debate, Khoo Poay Tiong (PH-Kota Melaka) said Azam had refused to appear before the PSC on Jan 19, giving the reason that he was “only issued an invitation”, and not a subpoena, to appear before the committee.
He also said that according to the parliamentary Standing Orders 83(2) and Article 17 and 18 of the Houses of Parliament (Privileges and Powers) Act 1952, a select committee had the right to summon Azam to appear before it and provide his statement.
Azhar then explained that Azam did not refuse to appear before the PSC as he had written a letter to its chairman, Abdul Latiff Abdul Rahman (PAS-Kuala Krai), where he raised some legal issues about the committee hearing.
According to Azhar, Azam claimed that the hearing violated the provisions of the Standing Orders and that the subject of his share dealings was sub judice because he had already filed a defamation suit against a journalist.