In legal and political theory, an elected and representative legislature is the central pillar of a democratic system. One third of the Articles of the Constitution of Malaysia require Parliament to perform a number of essential functions, such as the making of laws, scrutiny of executive policy, supervision of national finance, and control of emergency powers. But is Parliament failing to live up to our expectations in other areas? What are some reforms needed? We discuss this and more with Prof. Emeritus Datuk Dr Hj Shad Saleem Faruqi (Holder of the Tunku Abdul Rahman Chair at the University of Malaya, and co-chair of the UM Malaysian Bar Constitutional Literacy Initiative) and Maha Balakrishnan (Parliamentary Consultant & Researcher, and a Research Fellow at the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Asian Headquarters).

Law & Behold is an ongoing series which aims to arm Malaysians with constitutional literacy, and is done in collaboration with The Malaysian Bar, the University of Malaya's Faculty of Law, and the Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights (MCCHR).

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