Azalina: Proposed Ombudsman system to be independent, answerable to Parliament

PUTRAJAYA: The proposed Ombudsman to deal with public complaints will be an independent statutory body answerable to Parliament, said Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.

"It has to be a statutory body and independent unlike the Public Complaints Bureau (PCB) which comes under the Prime Minister's Department.

"The Ombudsman will also table its annual report in Parliament for debates," the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of law and institutional reforms told reporters at a press conference here on Monday (May 8).

She said it has also been proposed that the Office of the Ombudsman will be headed by a person not from the civil service for a term of six years.

Azalina said the Ombudsman will also be given investigative powers including powers to recommend disciplinary action against public servants, their respective heads or departments.

"The powers of investigations is more on maladministration and this differs from investigations which are carried out by the enforcement agencies," she added.

She explained that complaints to the Ombudsman would be against the administration of the delivery system affecting the rakyat.

"Some 85% of about 20,000 complaints lodged with the Public Complaints Bureau (PCB) annually are usually those against the local councils which deal extensively with the public," she said.

Azalina said that engagements will be held with relevant stakeholders on the proposed law before it is submitted to the Cabinet for approval.

The Minister said that a Bill to set up the Office of the Ombudsman will be tabled in Parliament during its year end meeting this October.

In 2019, the former Pakatan Harapan administration mooted the creation of the Ombudsman following calls for an independent body to investigate complaints against maladministration.

The proposed law was drafted in 2021 by the subsequent government but was not tabled in Parliament last year as anticipated.