KUALA LUMPUR: The government is still open to a relook of the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971, says Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
"On our side, a lot of consideration has to be done when we discuss policy and legal matters.
"For certain, what has been proposed will be taken through the normal process to get input from the relevant stakeholders on whether to review, abolish or improve (the law).
"This will depend on the findings of engagements with the relevant stakeholders," the Deputy Prime Minister said when replying to a question raised by Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah (PN-Indera Mahkota) in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Feb 28).
Saifuddin proposed that the Act be abolished, as promised by Pakatan Harapan in its election manifesto.
"It is a low-hanging fruit that can be worked on as the groundwork had been laid by the previous administration," he said.
Last Thursday (Feb 23), Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin informed the Dewan Rakyat that there were no plans by the government to repeal the Act as the law was still needed for administrative purposes.
The Act was amended in 2018 to abolish Section 15A to allow student involvement in politics.
However, there are calls for the law to be done away with to further encourage democracy in campuses.
On a separate question, Fadillah said a study is being done on whether or not to revive the Parliamentary Services Act (PSA) before the matter is brought to the Cabinet for a decision.
Apart from the PSA, he said there was also a proposal to amend the Houses of Parliament (Privileges and Powers) Act 1952.
He said the amendments and move to revive the PSA were some of the reforms being carried out by the present administration.
There have been recent calls for the PSA to be revived after it was abolished in 1992.
Speaker Datuk Johari Abdul reminded the House that both government backbenchers and Opposition MPs could now be invited to chair proceedings in the Dewan Rakyat's Special Chambers.
He said this in reference to a question raised by M. Kulasegaran (PH-Ipoh Barat) on whether a second Deputy Speaker would be appointed from among the Opposition.
