Excerpts from a Malaysiakini letter by Dr. Daphne Loke:
"...Ministerial Functions Act 1969 - The functions of ministers are governed by the Ministerial Functions Act 1969. As a convention, the candidate for a ministerial appointment is proposed by the leader of the party to the prime minister. Much as the prime minister has a prerogative over the selection of the candidate, by convention again, he takes the recommendations from the head of the party.
The actual appointment is only complete upon the candidate taking his oath of office before the Yang Di Pertuan Agong. S.2(1) a of the Act states: '...that a minister has been conferred with any functions or has been charged with any responsibility in respect of a particular department or subject or that any transfer, ...of any of the functions or responsibility referred to has been made'.
The above laid down the extent of responsibility of the minister-in-charge. In view of this procedure, when should a reluctant candidate turn down an offer for a ministerial appointment? In order not to insult the King nor embarrass the prime minster, he should have, at the time of selection, made it known to his party chief that he would not accept such-and-such an appointment as he wished to stay out of such-and-such a limelight.
Doctrine of Individual Ministerial Responsibility - a UK House of Commons research paper (2004) pointed out three main areas of ministerial responsibility:
a. The minister's private conduct
b. The general conduct of his department (or ministry), and
c. Acts done (or left undone) by officials in his department (or ministry)..."
More where that came from:
Dr Daphne Loke
Aug 20, 10
No comments:
Post a Comment