What happened to ombudsman plan, asks C4

Coverage by: Free Malaysia Today (FMT)

PETALING JAYA: The Center to Combat Corruption & Cronyism (C4) has asked the government to explain the delay in tabling the Ombudsman Bill.

It said Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had given his assurance that the bill would be tabled in Parliament by this year.

“It is already May 2022, where is the bill? Would it be tabled before Parliament is dissolved and elections are held?” it said in a statement today.

“Malaysians are tired of promise after promise of a vital accountability mechanism, only to be followed by silence.

“If there is a legitimate reason for the delay, that reason needs to be publicly announced in the interests of maintaining transparency.”

C4 reiterated that the establishment of an ombudsman was vital in eliminating corruption and cronyism in the system, and that public complaints against the government administration could be adequately investigated.

It said Abu Kassim Mohamed, the former director-general of the National Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Centre (GIACC), had stated in 2019 that the ombudsman would come into operation in 2020 if the bill was tabled by December 2019.

However, with the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government in February 2020, the plan was delayed and exacerbated by political instability.

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