Budget allocations for 11 ministries passed at committee level

Budget allocations for 11 ministries were passed at the committee level in the sixth week of the Dewan Rakyat sitting.

The ministries were: home affairs; works; entrepreneurship development and cooperatives; tourism, arts and culture; science, technology and innovation; health; human resources; Ministry of Transport; Ministry of International Trade and Industry; communications and digital; and women, family and community development.

Also passed in this week’s sitting was a motion to set up 10 new special parliamentary select committees for the current term, tabled by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said.

These are the special select committees on finance and economics; health; domestic trade, entrepreneurship, cost of living and agriculture; infrastructure, transport and communications; and nation building, education, and human resource development.

The others are the special select committees on women, children and community; environment, science and plantation; security, international relations and international trade; and human rights, elections and institutional reform.

The special committees will function as a checks and balances mechanism for the ministries.

Meanwhile, Speaker Johari Abdul announced that the Dewan Rakyat’s second meeting of the second session of the 15th Parliament, which was originally scheduled for June 12 to 27, will instead take place from May 22 to June 15.

He said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, as the leader of the House, had agreed to the change in line with Standing Order 11(2) of the Dewan Rakyat.

Johari said this followed his request to the prime minister as many MPs would be performing the haj in Mecca this year and needed to make preparations.