Legislative Assembly (AL) President Ho Iat Seng said Tuesday that the legislature’s work was still far from what citizens expect, calling on the 33-member body to do better, particularly in terms of monitoring the work of the government, over the next four years.
Ho made the comments during a speech at a Chinese New Year lunch for the media.
The assembly’s four-year term began late last year.
According to Ho, the fifth-term legislature with its nine new members started work four months ago and has already received 11 bills from the government. In terms of monitoring, the legislature has already received 214 written and 30 verbal interpellations, which already surpasses that of all the previous terms.
“Whether the standard of the legislative work has risen, the public will see soon. In my opinion, we are still far from the public’s expectations, particularly in monitoring [the government],” Ho said, adding, “This will be what we’ll do more of in the coming four years.”
The speaker also said, “I hope the legislature is clear about what our shortcomings are and what we need to do for civil society,” Ho said, urging all lawmakers to pay close attention to public opinion.
Ho added that the legislature’s three “follow-up committees” should monitor the government’s work performance and voice their opinions when they find the government is not doing its job well.
Ho later pointed out while speaking reporters that the government’s work efficiency would not be improved just by the legislature’s oversight but also depended on the joint effort of the chief executive, Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) and Commission of Audit (CA), as well as all other official entities.(macaunews)
