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Media Statement       
by Lim Kit Siang  
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(Parliament, Wednesday) : As part of the flurry of publicity in conjunction with the 200^th anniversary of the Royal Malaysian Police, the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan launched an intensive media campaign to present the police in the best possible light, including announcement of  the creation of a new mission and vision in line with the recommendations made by the Royal Police Commission, culminating in a call for a new and better scheme of service for the police which is 20% more in basic salary than any government servant.

In the media blitz, Musa told Bernama on Saturday that about 90 per cent of the recommendations of the Police Royal Commission “have been put into action while another four are in the process of being enforced”.

This is at variance with the answer given by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also Internal Security Minister, to my question in Parliament on Thursday on the status of the implementation of the 125 recommendations of the Royal Police Commission.

Abdullah said that out of the 125 recommendations of the Royal Police Commission, 102 or  82 per cent have been implemented while 23 or 18 per cent are still under detailed consideration.

There is a big difference between the 82 per cent of 125 recommendations cited by the Prime Minister in Parliament and the 90 per cent claimed by  the Inspector-General of Police, which works out to a difference of 10 recommendations out of 125 recommendations.

Have these 10 recommendations of Royal Police Commission like the IPCMC proposal disappeared into a  “black hole” without accountability whatsoever?

Is this another example of the right hand in government not knowing what the left hand is doing – what former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had lambasted as the disease of a “half-past six Cabinet”?

This does not speak well of the new mission and vision of the Royal Malaysian Police in accordance with the recommendations of the Royal Police Commission, aimed at creating an efficient, accountable, trustworthy, incorruptible, professional and world-class police force. 

If the IGP is serious about  the re-branding of the Royal Malaysian Police not just in name and for publicity purpose but in real substance and in terms sof a new police ethos, then Musa must take the first step of being fully accountable and transparent about the implementation of the 125 recommendations of the Royal Police Commission, in particular the key recommendation on the establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

It is nearly two years since the submission of the Royal Police Commission Report and the IGP should issue a full statement on the status of the implementation of the 102 recommendations, why 23 recommendations are still under study and in particular what are the 10 recommendations which seemed to have disappeared into a “blackhole” as the Prime Minister does not know what has happened to them.

I fully support a salary raise for the police service in line with the recommendations of the Royal Police Commission to create an efficient, trustworthy, incorruptible, professional world-class police service to reduce crime and respect human rights but the IGP would have made a better case to the Malaysian public  for a better deal for the police if he had been able to give enthusiastic support to the key Royal Police Commission proposal to establish the IPCMC.

Is the IGP prepared to provide active and enthusiastic support for the immediate establishment of the IPCMC, with necessary modifications from the original proposal of the Royal Police Commission, for if he is not prepared to do so, then all his talk of  a new police mission and vision in line with the recommendations of the Royal Police Commission must be taken with a large pinch of salt.

The Police had arm-twisted Barisan Nasional MPs into opposing the IPCMC proposal although the majority believes that such an external monitoring mechanism into police  abuses of power would be good for both the police force and the country. Is the Police prepared to withdraw its pressures on the Barisan Nasional MPs to allow them the freedom to support the IPCMC proposal?

(28/3/2007)