A government backbencher today suggested that the Parliament is relocated to Putrajaya, the seat of the government administration.

"We need a bigger and more comfortable Parliament. We should just relocate our Parliament to Putrajaya," said Badruddin Amiruldin (BN-Jerai).

However his suggestion was immediately shot down by another backbencher, Lau Yeng Peng (BN-Puchong).

"We cannot relocate Parliament to Putrajaya. It is the administrative capital which is controlled by the executive, and we're the legislative. We cannot be integrated," said Lau.

"If it is done, we will not see the separation of power that is the basis of our government," he said, referring to the three branches of the government - the executive, legislative and judiciary - being independent of each other.

Badruddin dismissed Lau's viewpoints and said that although the legislative and executive should not be placed in the same place, the Parliament needed to be housed in a more suitable and comfortable environment.

"I have to do a lot of research every time I speak in the Dewan Rakyat. And MPs don't have enough facilities to conduct their researches," he said, adding that each MP must have his or her own room to greet their respective guests.

"I suggest that we (MPs) visit Parliaments in other countries to get some ideas on how the buildings there are designed," he said.

"Our Parliament is just a tall rectangular building. I understand that in the past we had no money to get a better building, but now we have plenty of money and we should build a more beautiful building in a better place."

Substance over form

Disagreeing, Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (BN-Santubong) said that the substance of a Parliament (the MPs) is more important than its form (the outlook of the building).

"The substance of the Parliament is the most important thing that we need to look into. We need to focus on the behaviour and mentality of the people who sit in the House," he said.

"Where the Parliament is located is not important, but we have to ensure that it is on par with the judiciary and executive," he added.

"It is about time for us to move towards an independent Parliament, where we are not controlled by the executive."

Explaining that the Parliament was now under the tight control of executive, Wan Junaidi (photo) called for the Parliamentary Services Act to be reviewed.

He said that the Parliament needed to get out Ministry of Finance's control and has its own budget and allocations, like how it was before the Act was abolished in 1992.

Wan Junaidi was also of the view that the country's executive has taken over the legislative's powers.

"All laws are made in the Attorney-General's Chambers (executive) and are later passed down to us (legislative) to be endorsed," he said, adding that it should be the other way around where the Parliament will make the laws which will then be implemented by the executive.

"We need to release our Parliament from the grip of executive to be an independent body of the government. That's what separation of power means as stated in the Federal Constitution."

Putrajaya, a brainchild of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, is located in an isolated township some 50 kilometres south of Kuala Lumpur. At present it hosts almost all government ministries.

Suggestions to get foreign embassies and high commissions to move there has not materialised.