Kuala Lumpur, 23 Ogos 2025: The Multi-Party Democracy Caucus or Kaukus Demokrasi Pelbagai Parti (KDPP) welcomes the amendment to the Dewan Rakyat Standing Orders, which institutionalised the ten ad-hoc Parliamentary Special Select Committees (PSSCs) into permanent select committees aligned to ministerial portfolios, as well as the recent re-enactment of the Parliamentary Services Act (PSA). Together, these reforms would strengthen the checks and balances role of the Legislative branch over the Executive. Formalising and empowering the committees in the Dewan Rakyat would help build a network of more knowledgeable, focused and independent capacity among backbenchers and opposition members of Parliament, hence improving the governance process and enhancing checks and balances of Parliament.

Given the emphasis on reforms at the Federal level, KDPP is compelled to urge similar urgency among state governments to initiate similar legislative reforms at the state level. KDPP is working closely with our secretariat, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) and the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) to engage with state governments and entities to discuss specific institutional reforms that can be implemented in different states, especially on issues regarding empowerment of the Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN), political financing and constituency development fund (CDF).

In order to push for reform at the state level, the KDPP urges the DUNs to commit to the following:

• reform and empower the DUN Committees to ensure more opportunities for ADUNs to scrutinise state bills and policies, monitor and evaluate majlis mesyuarat kerajaan negeri, state agencies, government-linked companies (GLCs) and statutory bodies,
• recognising the role of the Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Cabinet, and,
• introduce more sitting days for the DUN

It is important for DUNs to be proactive and initiate serious public discourse on actionable changes that can be made to improve democracy at the state level.

Recognising the critical nature of building coalitions and networks of stakeholders and supporters of institutional reforms, especially at the state level, the KDPP extends an open hand to any ADUNs, state think tanks, state departments or other stakeholders to collaborate with the KDPP in any form to push the work of strengthening democratic governance in different states. The multi-partisan and cross-state nature of the KDPP places us in a unique position as a platform to discuss, understand and advocate for critical democratic reforms in different states. We look forward to working with all parties to achieve a more democratic Malaysia.

About KDPP

The Kaukus Demokrasi Pelbagai Parti (KDPP) is Malaysia’s first multi-party, cross-state caucus of State Assembly Members (ADUNs), established to champion institutional reform and strengthen democratic governance at the state level. Comprising ADUNs from five different states and spanning the political spectrum, alongside representatives from civil society organisations, the caucus is jointly facilitated by the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) and the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH).

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For enquiries, please contact:
Ryan Panicker
Assistant Manager, Advocacy and Events, IDEAS
T: 03 – 2070 8881/8882 | E: ryannesh@ideas.org.my

Ahmad Salami
Senior Program Officer, BERSIH
T: 013-2713484 | E: salami@bersih.org