KUALA LUMPUR: In the wake of a recent observation by DAP chairman Karpal Singh that the Dewan Negara “does not serve any purpose”, there have been renewed calls for the Senate to be reformed.

According to this veteran leader, the Senate or upper house of Parliament has become a means for “rejected politicians to be brought into Parliament through the back door”.

Another DAP veteran, Lim Kit Siang, has for many years complained that the appointed senators are nothing more than “yes-men who rubber stamp government decisions”.

While Karpal’s call for the abolishment of the Senate has not received much support, many feel that the people would be better served by a reformed Dewan Negara. And the reform they would most like to see is for members of the Senate to be elected, not appointed.

Still, not everyone is in favour of a totally elected Senate.

Human rights lawyer Andrew Khoo, for one, feels there should be a mixture of elected and appointed senators.

“I’m not in favour of having a totally elected Senate. There should be some room for appointments, so that the Orang Asli community or women, for instance, will have representatives,” he told fz.com.

Khoo, co-chairman of the Bar Council’s Human Rights Committee, said the current appointment system enabled distinguished statesman and capable non-politicians to serve the government.

He cited the case of Datuk Seri Idris Jala and Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar, two of the ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department, who have proven their capability in the corporate world.  

There are 70 senators in the Dewan Negara, 30 of whom are state nominees. Two senators are nominated by each of the 13 state legislative assemblies; the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur is represented by two senators, and Putrajaya and Labuan one each.

The other 40 senators are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. These persons, according to the federal constitution, should be those “who have rendered distinguished public service or have achieved distinction in the professions, commerce, industry, agriculture, cultural activities or social service, or are representative of racial minorities or are capable of representing the interests of aborigines”.

Political Studies for Change (KPRU) executive director Ong Ooi Heng concurred with Khoo that there is a need to maintain the Senate to enable civil society leaders to be appointed to Parliament.

Citing environmentalist Wong Tack as an example, he said although Wong lost narrowly in the May 5 general election, he deserves to be in Parliament as a representative of the green movement.

Khoo pointed out that senators could be directly elected as it is provided for in the Federal Constitution. Even if this were to come into effect in future, he suggested that a certain number of senators be appointed, at least in the transition stage.

Article 45(4) of the Federal Constitution states that Parliament may by law:

(a) increase to three the number of members to be elected for each state;

(b) provide that the members to be elected for each state shall be elected by the direct vote of the electors of that state; and

(c) decrease the number of appointed members or abolish appointed members.

Khoo said Malaysia could also adopt certain aspects of the election model in the United States, whereby the lower house (Dewan Rakyat) will have an election once every three years with the polls being based on the first-past-the-post system.

He proposed that half of the senators be elected using the proportional representation (PR) system. Illustrating his point with an example, he said if there are four senators to be elected in Selangor, then party A and B will each get to submit a list of four candidates to be chosen by the people. If party A’s candidates get 75% of the votes and party B 25%, the first three candidates on party A’s list and the first name on party B’s list will end up being elected as senators.

“This can help improve the value of the Senate, because they will have electoral legitimacy,” Khoo said, adding that under PR, the senator’s term lasts six years instead of three as is the case in Malaysia now.

He said having elected senators acts as a “check and balance” because the Senate is not likely to be dominated by the same party.

Khoo also proposed a “committee system” to oversee the policies of each ministry, with the respective minister or top ranking officials having to appear before the committee to answer and justify the decisions they have taken.

“The idea is to improve and strengthen democracy in this country by empowering Parliament,” he said.

Ong said since the 2008 general election, the Senate has seen more representation from Pakatan Rakyat via senators appointed by the Pakatan-led state governments

Pointing to former PKR deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali, who was appointed senator by the Selangor government in 2009, Ong said he had played an active role in the Dewan Negara. He said the Pakatan senators also held meetings among themselves and participated in a lot of debates.

“It’s just that the Senate did not gain as much attention [as the Dewan Rakyat],” he said.

He suggested that Pakatan senators hold open consultations to obtain the opinions of the people on policies since they do not have constituencies to take care of, unlike the MPs.

For more stories, go to www.fz.com, the website for freedom of expression and fairness in articulation.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 28, 2013.