PETALING JAYA: Prominent social activist Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye has called for Putrajaya to clarify the status of the National Ombudsman that was initially mooted in 2018.
“While I welcome the idea of the independent body, I want to enquire what has happened to the Ombudsman?
“I hope the Prime Minister will clarify this so that we know exactly what their position (about the Ombudsman) is,” he told The Star on Tuesday (March 28).
In 2018, the then Pakatan Harapan government gave the go-ahead for the establishment of the Ombudsman Malaysia to replace the Public Complaints Bureau.
Lee said that the Ombudsman has been in practice in most countries, especially the Commonwealth.
“The Public Complaints Bureau is not always effective in handling complaints about the enforcement agencies.
“The Ombudsman itself is sufficient, there’s no need for another independent body,” he added.
Earlier in Dewan Rakyat, Anwar directed the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) to consider the setting up of an independent complaints mechanism against enforcement agencies.
"I have directed the AGC to study how to set up a mechanism where complaints can be made against the Customs, police, Immigration, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and any other enforcement agency.
"This could be in the form of a commission," he said when answering a supplementary question raised by Gobind Singh Deo (PH-Damansara) on Tuesday (March 28).
