KUALA LUMPUR: Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has urged the government to make public the Institutional Reforms Committee (IRC) reports which contain recommendations for various reforms.
The reports are currently being overseen by the National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (GIACC), LFL executive director Latheefa Koya said in a statement today.
She also expressed surprise that the government still refuses to make public the IRC reports that contain 233 recommendations relating to governance, integrity and corruption prevention.
“Public knowledge and discussion of the recommendations would only benefit the process of reform and change in which the new government is currently engaged in,” Latheefa said.
“The recommendations cover nine critical institutions which are of great public interest and concern, namely the Parliament, the Election Commission, the judiciary, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the police, the Immigration Department, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), and the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam).
“Continuing to keep the contents secret may only serve to create unhealthy speculation in various quarters and retard the process of legislating and realising these reforms.”
The legal activist added that the government must also fulfil its promise for serious institutional reforms on key institutions, such as the AGC, judiciary, police force, MACC and the Election Commission (EC).
“The government must fulfil its promise to institute institutional reform and entrench human rights as promised in the PH election manifesto,” she said.
“They must not backtrack on the commitments made. It is time they complete their mission to build a clean, accountable and capable government that is committed to institutional and political reforms to protect the rights of all races and improve the quality of life of Malaysians.”
She was commenting on Deputy Law Minister Hanipa Maidin’s statement in a parliamentary written reply to a question from Khoo Poay Tiong (DAP – Kota Melaka), who had asked for information on the IRC report’s contents and proposals.
