Don't hide anti-hopping bill behind OSA, Bersih urges with Azalina's support

 

The Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih) has called on the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on anti-hopping law to not hide its main proceedings behind the Official Secrets Act 1972.

Bersih’s steering committee said while its full minutes could remain confidential, four main elements - meeting dates and platform, key decisions, the evolving draft bill, and stakeholders' written and oral submissions - must be made public.

"Bersih calls upon the PSC to not obstruct the public's knowledge and participation in applying the OSA to all its businesses.

"Commonwealth democracies like the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada would not use laws like the OSA to restrict legislative deliberation, why should Malaysia?" said Bersih in a statement.

"The public must be informed and involved so that the resultant bill would meet the public expectation and necessary compromises would enjoy public support," added the electoral watchdog.

Pengerang MP Azalina Othman Said

Call for greater public involvement

Taking to Twitter, Pengerang MP Azalina Othman, who is a member of the PSC, supported Bersih's call for greater public involvement in the process.

"Agree 100 percent with @bersihofficial.

"The anti-hopping law affects voters. Therefore, voters ought to be informed and involved in the law-making process of the anti-hopping law," tweeted Azalina, who is an adviser to Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on law and human rights.

Bersih further noted ongoing discussions by the PSC established on April 11 - following the special parliamentary sitting - with no public updates on progress towards tabling of the draft bill.

"The April 11 parliamentary debate suggests that a key disagreement on the anti-hopping law is whether MPs expelled by their parties should also be expelled from the House.

"The public must be informed on this pertinent question and the proposed remedies to ensure that the law would not be derailed, defective or destructive to parliamentary democracy," said Bersih.

"The anti-hopping law must be made a success of mature multi-partisanship, and not a failure that feeds inter-party blame-games in the 15th general election or beyond," stressed the coalition.

The much-anticipated anti-party hopping bill was not tabled on March 21 nor April 11 as originally promised by the federal government.

Instead, the Dewan Rakyat decided that the bill needed to be further worked on by an 11-member bipartisan select committee headed by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar. - Mkini