KUALA LUMPUR: A Bill to establish the highly anticipated Malaysian Ombudsman body will soon be drafted and likely be tabled in Parliament next year, says M. Kulasegaran.
The Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) said this came after the government had concluded two Focus Group Discussions (FGD) with state government agencies on policies for the Malaysian Ombudsman body.
The two zones in question are the northern zone (involving the states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang, and Perak) and the Sabah zone.
“This holistic engagement session will continue at the Sarawak, East, South, and Central zones before being finalized at the central agency level by the first quarter of 2025,” he told Parliament on Thursday (Dec 12).
He revealed that several policy proposal workshops for the Ombudsman’s establishment have also been held with stakeholders, government agencies, and non-governmental organisations.
Kulasegaran also said that the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister's Department (BHEUU) have conducted three months of holistic engagement sessions with key stakeholders for three months since June earlier this year.
“These sessions were used to determine the establishment and implementation mechanisms of the Malaysian Ombudsman and was held in collaboration with the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) and Public Complaints Bureau (BPA).
“They allowed us to examine and discuss in detail on several policy and technical aspects regarding the establishment of this new body.
“This included a functional study analysis to investigate complaints, the body's jurisdiction to address issues of maladministration in public service delivery, and the financial and human resource needs of this new body,” he said.
Kulasegaran said that the sessions also discussed the feasibility of the Ombudsman becoming the central agency for whistleblower protection under proposed amendments to Whistleblower Protection Act 2010.
“All these aspects need to be thoroughly reviewed and discussed with all relevant stakeholders involved in this effort before it can be brought to Cabinet for approval,” he added
Kulasegaran was responding to a question from Teresa Kok Suh Sim (PH-Seputeh) on the status for the establishment of the Malaysian Ombudsman and its implementation timeline.
Once launched, the Malaysian Ombudsman is expected to serve as a platform for the public to voice their grievances against the public service delivery system and replace the current BPA.
