KUALA LUMPUR: A Bill to establish the highly anticipated Malaysian Ombudsman 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 comes after the government concluded two focus group discussions with state agencies on policies for the body.
The two zones in question are northern (involving the states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak) and Sabah.
“This holistic engagement session will continue at the Sarawak, East, South and Central zones before being finalised at the central agency level by the first quarter of 2025,” he told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Kulasegaran said several policy proposal workshops for the Ombudsman’s establishment have also been held with stakeholders, government agencies and non-governmental organisations.
He also said the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department conducted holistic engagement sessions with key stakeholders for three months since June.
These sessions were used to determine the establishment and implementation mechanisms of the Malaysian Ombudsman and were held in collaboration with the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission and Public Complaints Bureau (BPA), he said.
“They allowed us to examine and discuss in detail several policy and technical aspects regarding the formation 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 added.
Kulasegaran said the sessions also discussed the feasibility of the Ombudsman becoming the central agency for whistleblower protection under proposed amendments to the 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 the Cabinet for approval,” he said.
Kulasegaran was responding to a question from Teresa Kok Suh Sim (PH-Seputeh) on the status of the proposed 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.
