Defer the fake IPCMC Bill to
allow for proper public consultation through Parliamentary Select Committee
on Bill _____________
Media Conference
by Lim Kit Siang
________________
(Parliament,
Tuesday):
No, it was not an empty
auditorium but quite a full house for the Emergency Public Consultation on
the Special Complaints Commission Bill (or fake IPCMC Bill) at the Kuala
Lumpur-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall last night.
It vindicated my faith and confidence in Malaysians that despite the
impossibly short two-day notice falling on a weekend and end-of-year
holiday season, minimal exposure in print media and total lack of
leafleting, there was a strong turn-out of Malaysians for the Public
Consultation to demonstrate their concern, commitment and seriousness
about their citizenship rights.
The highlights of the Public Consultation last night were:
Outcome – Unanimous vote by show of hands that the SCC Bill should
be deferred to the next parliamentary meeting in March next year and in
the meantime there should be a Parliamentary Select Committee to ensure
the widest public consultation with the civil society on the proposed
legislation.
This was the unanimous sense of the Public Consultation, which was offered
three options, viz:
• Support for the SCC Bill;
• Rejection;
• Deferment.
The Public Consultation was in
full support of the views expressed by the panelists that the SCC Bill is
a poor and unacceptable substitute for the Independent Police Complaints
and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill proposed by the Royal Police
Commission as the most important of its 125 recommendations to reform and
transform the Malaysian police into an efficient, accountable,
incorruptible, professional world-class police service.
Some quotes by panelists:
Tunku Abdul Aziz, Royal Police Commission member and former
President, Transparency International Malaysia:
A mockery of the IPCMC recommendation, “totally turned upside down”;
“Total disdain for fairness, justice and public opinion”;
“Say goodbye to all the high hopes that we will have the best police force
that money cannot buy”.
Edmond Bon,
Chairperson of Bar Council Human Rights Committee:
More correct to be named Special Referral Commission rather than Special
Complaints Commission;
Minor recommendations of Royal Police Commission accepted but major
recommendations ignored;
“Just adds another layer of bureaucracy. Really sad. Might as well not
have the Bill”.
Datuk Param Cumaraswamy,
former United Nations Special Rapporteur for Independence of Judges and
Lawyers:
A slap in the face of the Royal Police Commission.
Government has duty to explain why it cannot implement the recommendations
of the Royal Police Commission.
Will require another Commission to oversight the SCC.
I will convey to the Minister
in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, who is
responsible for piloting the Bill through Parliament, the unanimous stand
of the Public Consultation for the establishment of a Parliamentary Select
Committee for proper public consultation and to defer passage of the SCC
Bill until the next parliamentary meeting next year.
(18/12/2007)
* Lim
Kit Siang, Parliamentary
Opposition Leader, MP for Ipoh Timur & DAP Central Policy and Strategic
Planning Commission Chairman |