During the Tunku Abdul Rahman's term as Prime Minister of Malaysia, the Parliamentary Secretaries was appointed to assist the full Ministers in select areas of their Ministries but are not members of the cabinet. Their duty was to answer questions and table reports on behalf of ministers when they were unable to be present in the house. The tradition of the Prime Minister to appoint the Parliamentary Secretary was continued until the position was removed in the Third Abdullah cabinet after the 2008 Malaysian general election. The partial live telecasts of Parliament proceedings began in 2008 to allow the public to watch the Ministers or Deputy Ministers personally answering questions during Question Time in Parliament.