The Dewan Rakyat has passed the Government Procurement Bill 2025 despite pushback from various civil society groups which called for the proposed law to be delayed and further improved.
In a bloc vote, 125 MPs voted in favour of the bill while 63 voted against it and one abstained. A total of 32 MPs were absent.
Opposition MPs subsequently staged a walkout from the Dewan Rakyat in protest, with opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin (PN-Larut) leading the way.
After debates at the committee stage, the bill passed the third reading in a voice vote.
The bill, aimed at improving transparency and accountability in public procurement, had come under fire for purportedly giving too much unchecked power to the finance minister.
Finance minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan earlier wound up the debate on the bill in the Dewan Rakyat.
The draft legislation lays down a full procurement framework through 12 parts and 93 clauses, applying to ministries, statutory bodies, government-linked companies, and local councils that spend public funds at both the federal and state levels.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the finance minister, had said that the bill was a necessity given past scandals like 1MDB, the Jana Wibawa programme, and the RM9 billion littoral combat ship project.
However, a think tank and anti-graft groups called for the bill to be postponed due to weaknesses in the proposed law, with one group describing it as “institutionally dangerous“.
PKR‘s Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim also said that under the proposed legislation, Parliament would not be able to debate government tenders and purchases.
