AZALINA VERSUS PAUL LOW: Ministers clash over A-G’s plan to rein in whistle blowers

There appears to be disagreement within the Cabinet over the attorney-general's (A-G) proposal for harsher punishment under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), as two ministers in the Prime Minister's Department gave contradicting views on the plan which drew condemnations from civil society and journalist groups.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Paul Low today called for whistleblowers to be protected, hours after his colleague Datuk Seri Azalina Othman came out in support of the proposal by A-G Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali.

Low, who is in charge of good governance and transparency, said as long as information was leaked to expose a wrongdoing, the whistleblower should be protected.

"There are cases where there may be abuses of power. So if there is fraud and corruption, civil servants should be able to whistleblow through the trusted channels, such as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission or the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC).

"Currently, under the Whistleblowers Protection Act, whistleblowers cannot reveal information under OSA.

"So the government has to make an exemption: even if it is under OSA, if the information leaked is related to corruption, abuse and fraud, then the OSA should allow this whistleblower to be protected," said Low.

Azalina had welcomed Apandi's proposal as timely, saying civil servants were leaking too much information.

Making a comparison, she said the United States too had "no absolute freedom, for the press or anyone".

"I think what the A-G is saying is, it is high time for Malaysia to do something.

"There are a lot of breaches with government information. You don't get that in other countries, but you get a lot of breaches in Malaysia," she said after attending MCA's Chinese New Year open house in Kuala Lumpur today.

But Low said he was against the move, which among others could mean life imprisonment and 10 strokes of the rattan on those convicted under OSA.

Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Paul Low and Datuk Seri Azalina Othman

He said instead of such a "blanket punishment", the government should review the level of classified information under OSA.

For instance, a person who discloses names of secret agents to put their lives in danger, such as in the case of WikiLeaks, should be punished, Low added.

However, he said not all state secrets could affect national security.

"So the government must weigh how detrimental it is if certain information is leaked out. We cannot move to a mode that everything is secret.

"When you do that, you are moving backwards and away from being accountable and transparent."

Low said he would raise the matter in the Cabinet should it receive Apandi's proposed amendments.

"If we receive the proposal, we will look at it and evaluate its reasonableness and what it is supposed to achieve." – TMI