Amendment to MCMC Act does not give minister more power, says Teo

 The deputy communications minister says the minister already has the authority to appoint the commission’s chairman and members since 1998.

Deputy communications minister Teo Nie Ching said the amendment bars MPs and assemblymen from being appointed as MCMC chairman, and sets out the experience and knowledge required of commission members. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR:

The amendment to the law governing the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission does not give the communications minister more power, deputy minister Teo Nie Ching said.

Teo said the communications minister had been allowed to appoint MCMC’s chairman and members since the law came into force in 1998.

“What we are doing now is limiting the minister’s choices,” she said when winding up the debate on the MCMC (Amendment) Bill in the Dewan Rakyat today.

She said the amendment bars MPs and assemblymen from being appointed as MCMC chairman and sets out the experience and knowledge required of commission members.

She was replying to MPs who said MCMC could not be seen as independent while the minister alone chose its chairman and members.

While Teo admitted that the present system was “not perfect” and could be improved later, she said changes had to be made step by step.

She said ministers also appointed the heads of several other bodies, including the Securities Commission Malaysia, the National Water Services Commission, the Companies Commission of Malaysia, and the Energy Commission.

Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (PN-Pasir Mas) asked why prospective MCMC chairmen could not first be questioned by a parliamentary committee.

He cited the US Federal Communications Commission, whose commissioners are nominated by the president but must appear before the Senate and receive its approval.

Fadhli also pointed to Canada, where vacancies at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission are openly advertised and candidates are chosen through a merit-based process.

He said Malaysia had no public hearing, no parliamentary oversight, and no explanation of why one candidate was chosen over another.

“How can the government claim that the process is truly free from political influence?” he said.

He said stopping MPs and assemblymen from becoming the chairman of MCMC was only a cosmetic change if the appointment remained entirely in the minister’s hands.

Teo reiterated that the minister’s appointment power was not new, and that the amendment did not widen it.

She said the new conditions would restrict whom the minister could appoint and reduce the risk of political conflicts.

The bill was passed with a voice vote. - FMT