KOTA KINABALU: The inaugural Parliamentary and State Assembly Secretaries of Malaysia Conference 2024 will look into standardising standing orders and administrative aspects.
Sabah Assembly Speaker Datuk Seri Kadzim Yahya said the three-day conference starting today was organised by Parliament.
"(Sabah) is the implementer and the contents are prepared by Parliament. But after discussions, one item to be discussed in the first convention is on how to coordinate standing orders at parliamentary and state assembly sittings.
"Now, every state has its own standing orders, some of which are different from others.
"So, those that can be standardised, should be standardised. For those that have their own unique characteristics, we will just accept them as they are," he told reporters after opening the event at the state assembly building here.
Meanwhile, Kadzim said state assembly secretaries face great challenges, including the various political dynamics.
"This legislative council is not a department or ministry. It is an institution that is integral to forming the government. It is one of the three branches that make up the government.
"(Therefore) it is important for a legislative secretary to be nonpartisan. For now, although he (the secretary) comes from the state civil services, he is more answerable to the speaker, and the speaker will be answerable to the chief minister (or menteri besar)."
Earlier, Dewan Negara secretary Muhd Sujairi Abdullah said the event was for discussions and exchanges of views on best practices in managing their respective assemblies.
He added that the programme was also a follow-up to the Conference of Speakers of Parliament and State Assemblies of Malaysia held in Langkawi in 2022.