Saturday, December 05, 2009

Minutes & Agendas of State Legislative Assemblies should be on the net. Pakatan Rakyat States could lead the way...and it will take less than a month

What is going to be discussed in the State Legislative Assembly (Dewan Undangan Negeri) - the Agenda

What has been discussed in the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) - the Minutes of the Proceedings...the Hansard? Who said what? Who attended the meeting, and who did not.

The UMNO-led BN government has created a website for Parliment - that covers the Dewan Rakyat (i.e. where the MPs sit and debate), and the Dewan Negara (or Senat, where the Senators sit and discuss), and there you can find the Agenda (Aturcara Mesyuarat), and the Minutes of the Proceedings for each and every day. See the Official Parliament Website - Parlimen Malaysia which has both a Bahasa Melayu version and an English Version

Now, sadly many of the State governments do not seem to have similar official website for State Legislative Assemblies (Dewan Undangan Negeri), where the elected DUNs sit and discuss. There is also no Agenda and/or Minutes of the Proceedings - and hence the voters and the people are kept in the DARK about what has transpired. The principles of accountability and transparency demands that we all have easy internet access to the full minutes of the proceedings, including also the attendance list for each day of proceedings.

This will be how the people will be able to evaluate their own elected representatives - i.e. whether they are attending, and also what did they say if they spoke up during the proceedings.

The Parliamentary Website also have copies of the Bills that are to be debated, and also copies of the Acts of Parliament that have been passed.

Likewise, the State Legislative Assembly should also have the Bills being debated posted on its website, and certainly all the State Enactments that have been passed.

Pakatan Rakyat State Governments could lead the way, in a spirit of Reformasi - and their respective State Legislative Assembly websites going. Live video streamings are apparently available for State Legislative Assembly sittings of Selangor and Penang, and this is good but not enough. Many people are working when these sessions are going on and may not be able to sit and watch the session. Official minutes are there, and it simply could be uploaded for all to see.

It should take you less than a month to set this up.

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