KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 — The Dewan Negara today congratulated Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on his appointment as the 10th Prime Minister to lead Malaysia’s Unity Government.
Dewan Negara speaker Tan Sri Rais Yatim said it is hoped the Tambun MP would succeed in building unity, driving the national economy and bringing improvements to the people’s well-being.
“Although the Dewan Negara sitting is just for one day, it is very meaningful because it is now under the administration led by the 10th Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim,” he said in his opening speech at Dewan Negara sitting here today.
In his speech, Rais reminded the four senate members who were appointed as ministers and two as deputy ministers not to forget their role in the upper house when assuming their Cabinet positions.
He also informed that the attendance of ministers and deputy ministers throughout the senate proceeding will be recorded by the Dewan Negara secretary in accordance with Article 43 (3) of the Federal Constitution.
Rais said the move was taken as a show of collective responsibility of the Cabinet to Parliament.
“This matter has never been mentioned before, but it is important for the upper house to record it as a responsibility,” he said.
On December 3, four new senators were sworn in at the Dewan Negara following their appointment as ministers in the Cabinet
They were Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz who was later appointed as International Trade and Industry Minister, Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir (Foreign Affairs), Datuk Dr Mohd Na’im Mokhtar (Religious Affairs) and Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (Home Affairs)
Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living, Fuziah Salleh and Deputy Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives, K. Saraswathy took their oath as senators on December 10.
On behalf of the Dewan Negara, Rais also conveyed condolences to the victims and relatives involved in the tragic landslide at Father’s Organic Farm in Batang Kali on December 16, as well as sympathies to flood victims nationwide.
— Bernama