Ombudsman Malaysia—How soon is soon? — Hafiz Hassan
Lest the deputy minister forgets, it's been almost seven years since Ombudsman Malaysia was mooted in September 2018 by second-time prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad who led a Cabinet drawn from four parties—Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah).
Kulasegaran was then the minister of human resources.
He should recall that Dr Mahathir then said that the Public Complaints Bureau (PCB) would be known and function as Ombudsman Malaysia. For such a purpose, an Ombudsman Act would be drafted to ensure a more effective management of public complaints in Malaysia.
'The Ombudsman Malaysia will not be put under the prime minister's office or under any ministry. It is free to act (as it sees fit),' Dr Mahathir said after a meeting of the Special Cabinet Committee on Anti-Corruption.
Also present were then Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Liew Vui Keong and National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (GIACC) director-general Abu Kassim Mohamed.
Dr Mahathir also expressed his hope that the government could find qualified people to be in Ombudsman Malaysia.
'We will try to find people who have impeccable integrity,' he said.
Fast forward—five years and three prime ministers after Dr Mahathir in 2018 -- Law and Institutional Reform Minister Azalina Othman Said told a press conference in May 2023 that the legislation for the establishment of Ombudsman Malaysia was slated for Parliament tabling in October that year.
With less than five months to go then, Azalina said the government was in the final stage of engaging stakeholders such as NGOs and civil society organisations to fine-tune the Bill for eventual Cabinet approval. https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2023/05/08/azalina-ombudsman-malaysia-bill-to-be-tabled-in-october/68187
An engagement session with MPs was also held in June that year. PCB director-general S. Letchumanan briefed the MPs, which included Azalina.
That was more than two years ago.
October 2023 came and went before we could even blink.
More than a year later in December 2024, Kulasegaran repeated what was said by Azalina in May 2023 -- that the legislation for the establishment of Ombudsman Malaysia would be drafted and likely be tabled in Parliament in this year (2025).
He said soon.
Earlier in July 2024, the deputy minister told the Dewan Rakyat that the government was committed to establishing Ombudsman Malaysia as an independent body to receive and address complaints related to the federal public service delivery system.
He told the House that the proposal to establish Ombudsman Malaysia was presented at the Law and Institutional Reform Agenda Implementation Committee Meeting on April 29, where it was decided that a holistic engagement session would be held for three months to determine the mechanism for its establishment.
'This decision was also agreed upon in the Cabinet meeting on June 12. The process of appointing committee members from each involved agency for the engagement session is now underway.
'This engagement session is important to ensure that the views and needs of all stakeholders are transparently and comprehensively taken into account for the benefit of the people and the country,' he said in reply to a question from Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman (PN-Sik) regarding the latest plans to enact the Ombudsman Act.
Yesterday, Kulasegaran told the Dewan Rakyat that Ombudsman Malaysia would be established.
He said soon, again.
How soon is soon?
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
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