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KUALA LUMPUR – The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) has called on the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) on Anti-Hopping Law (AHL) to not block public knowledge and participation in the law’s drafting by applying the Official Secrets Act (OSA) on all its activities.
The reformist group said that while minutes of internal meetings can be kept confidential, the PSSC should make public the dates and venues or platforms of its meetings, the key decisions made, the evolving drafts of the bill, and the written and oral submissions made by stakeholders.
“Bersih calls upon the PSSC to boldly end the ‘secrecy culture’ in lawmaking in Malaysia, which is a colonial relic that the public cannot be trusted to know and give their inputs on laws that affect them.
“It also smacks of elitist arrogance that ‘politicians and bureaucrats know best’, which has no place in the 21st century, and contradicts the ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ (Malaysian family) spirit,” said Bersih’s steering committee in a statement today.
On April 20, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar was reported as saying that discussions and findings that were presented to parliamentary select committees are protected under the OSA.
He said that a decision cannot be revealed unless it is tabled in the Dewan Rakyat and then becomes a public document.
The steering committee said Commonwealth democracies like UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada would not use laws like the OSA to restrict legislative deliberation.
“Why should Malaysia?” it asked, adding that it believes the PSSC must have worked very hard for two weeks since its establishment on April 11.
“Unfortunately, the public knows nothing of its progress,” it said.
“The April 11 parliamentary debate suggests that a key disagreement on the AHL is whether MPs expelled by their parties should also be expelled from the house (Dewan Rakyat).
“The public must be informed on this pertinent question and the proposed remedies to ensure that the AHL would not be derailed, defective or destructive to parliamentary democracy.”
“Bersih reminds the PSSC that the AHL cannot be just drafted opaquely and rushed through the Parliament in June.”
It stressed that public expectation of the legislative process and quality has been raised by both the defects in the current draft and commendable remedial steps taken by the government of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri as well as opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH).
It lauded the move to refer the constitutional amendment bill to the PSSC after rigorous debate by 59 MPs on April 11 as demonstrating the “refreshing political wisdom” of Ismail Sabri, Wan Junaidi as minister in charge of Parliament and law, and the steering committee of the memorandum of understanding signed between the government and PH.
Stressing the importance of accountable, transparent and participative lawmaking, it said that the AHL must be made a success of mature multi-partisanship, and not become a failure that would feed blame games between parties in the upcoming general election or beyond.
The bill was tabled in Parliament on April 11, but the Dewan Rakyat agreed to refer it to a PSSC for further deliberation before it is put up for vote.
The government had initially planned to pass the law then but was forced to postpone it after resistance from certain quarters in the cabinet, who disagreed on the current definition of party-hopping.
Wan Junaidi himself is the chairman of the PSSC which comprises 10 other members.
It was tasked with scrutinising constitutional amendments and definitions needed to introduce any anti-hopping legislation.
He said that the PSSC would also establish if Article 48(6) of the federal constitution, which prohibits any defecting lawmaker from competing in an election for five years, should be abolished.
Government-friendly representatives in the committee include Datuk Seri Azalina Othman (Pengerang) and Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz (Padang Rengas), both from Umno; Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin (Larut) from Bersatu; Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan (Kota Baru) of PAS; and Lukanisman Awang Sauni (Sibuti) of Gabungan Parti Sarawak.
Representatives from the opposition include DAP’s Gobind Singh Deo (Puchong), PKR’s Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (Kulim-Bandar Baharu), Amanah’s Mohamed Hanipa Maidin (Sepang), Upko president Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau (Tuaran), and Warisan’s deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking (Penampang). – The Vibes, April 26, 2022