Speakers and presiding officers of parliaments are been encouraged to bridge the gap between the public’s perception of the legislature and the reality of their functions as an arm of government.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives of Malaysia, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin, said it had become necessary to improve public perception, as the legislature aims for legislative accountability and transparency.

These were some of the issues he raised while welcoming over 50 speakers and presiding officers attending the opening of the 23rd Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth taking place in Sabah, Malaysia.

Speakers and Presiding Officers of parliaments that make up the Commonwealth Nations are in Kota Kinabalu where they have the opportunity to discuss issues confronting parliamentary democracy in its various forms in their countries

Welcoming members to his country, the Speaker of the Malaysian House of Representatives touched on some of the challenges confronting the parliament.

The Deputy Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives, Lasun Yussuf, said the low perception of the legislature was unfortunate.

“When you say you are representing them, you have oversight function to perform and law to make, they still do not believe in those functions and so the public seeks the legislative arm of government as parasite.

“We are bedevilled with this perception and as long as you try hard to change it, you can only do it through the function that you perform,” he stated.

Mr Tan, however, said the problem may be due to the lawmakers themselves.

“When parliamentarians do not observe decorum then that is where you have bad image about the parliament from the public.

“Another one is when some parliaments abuse the rights that they have as leaders,” the Speaker of the Malaysian House of Representatives said.

The Speaker said these challenges called for a new attitude and a new way of thinking by Speakers and Presiding Officers.

These are some of the issues that will be considered at the conference over the next few days.