PUTRAJAYA: The proposed Freedom of Information (FOI) Act will come into force by next year, with certain provisions from the controversial Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA) to be included in the former.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong also maintained that the government would do away with the OSA altogether, as pledged under the Pakatan Harapan manifesto.
This is in contradiction to his deputy Hanipa Maidin, who said recently that the government was still considering whether to repeal the act altogether and replace it with the new FOI Act, or to have the two legislations exist in unison with one another.
“No, I think this (keeping OSA) is not in line with our promise. But we may have to retain some of the provisions under that act. Like it or not, certain information cannot be disclosed to the public, especially when it involved the security of the nation.
“So at the moment, we are looking to move some of these provisions to the proposed FOI Act. But give us some time (to formulate the act), as we have to consult various stakeholders,” he told a press conference after attending the National Stakeholders Consultation on the Right to Information Legislation, here, today.
Hanipa had, on Nov 7, told the Dewan Rakyat that the government may yet retain OSA as it was still still necessary to protect sensitive and confidential government information, adding that it was only deemed oppressive because the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government had misused the law.
“Actually, personally for me, there’s no issue with the OSA. Previously, the issue was not with the act itself, but the problem was it was being misused. It was used to protect cruelty and abuse of power, and not to protect confidential information,” he had said.
Commenting further on the proposed FOI Act, Liew said the government has received various feedback from all levels of the society, and that changes could be expected to be seen soon.
Earlier in his speech, the minister said the formulation of the law required in-depth and holistic study to ensure it would contravene with any existing laws.
On claims that there have been some resistance from certain quarters of the civil service on the FOI Act, Liew said this was expected, as per any other new laws that are introduced.
“Introducing, repealing or amending any laws are bound to have resistance. It is quite natural, because it affects certain section of the community. That is why we are conducting consultation with them,” he said.
