KUALA LUMPUR: After a 35-day sitting, the third meeting of the third session of the 15th Parliament adjourned sine die on Thursday (Dec 12), with 26 Bills, including the Supply (Budget) Bill 2025, being passed.
Budget 2025, which was tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Oct 18 and entailed the largest allocation in the country's history, amounting to RM421bil, was discussed at the policy and committee level for nearly seven weeks.
The budget received the majority support of the MPs and was passed by the august House on Dec 3.
This budget is the third under the Madani government and the last under the 12th Malaysia Plan (2021-2025) before transitioning to the 13th Malaysia Plan for the next five years.
Among the bills passed were the Communications and Multimedia (Amendment) Bill 2024, the Online Safety Bill 2024, the Data Sharing Bill 2024, the Penal Code (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2024, the Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2024, National Wages Consultation Council (Amendment) Bill 2024, and the Water Services Industry (Amendment) Bill 2024.
The House also passed the Labour Ordinance of Sabah (Amendment) Bill 2024, the Labour Ordinance of Sarawak (Amendment) Bill 2024, the Trustee (Amendment) Bill 2024, the Legal Profession (Amendment) Bill 2024, and the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board (Amendment) Bill 2024.
However, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (Amendment) Bill 2024 was deferred. Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said that the bill would be referred to the Special Select Committee (JKPK) on Infrastructure, Transport and Communications and the JKPK on Human Rights, Elections and Institutional Reform for review and suggestions for improvement.
The Mufti (Federal Territories) Bill 2024, which was scheduled for its second reading during this session, was also deferred to the next parliamentary sitting.
Two new Bills were tabled for the first reading, namely the Malaysian Media Council Bill 2024 to establish a self-regulatory body and the Bernama (Amendment) Bill 2024 to make the media industry more inclusive.
Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching, who tabled the two bills, said that the bills would be tabled for a second reading at the next Dewan Rakyat meeting.
This Parliament session also marked a significant milestone in institutional reform. For the first time, the JKPK chairmen were given the platform to present and explain their respective committee statements.
In another significant development, the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report on the handling of matters related to the sovereignty of Batu Puteh, Batuan Tengah, and Tubir Selatan was tabled.
However, the session also saw the suspension of Pendang MP Datuk Awang Hashim for 10 days starting Dec 5, following a controversial statement he made against the Speaker on the TikTok platform on July 18. – Bernama
