Dewan Rakyat speaker Azhar Azizan Harun said he is unable to decide on a notice of motion to table a private member’s bill in the august house to amend the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (PDPA) until the finance minister weighs in on the matter.
In a letter of response to Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil who submitted the motion, Azhar said the proposed bill appears to have financial implications for the government, which is restricted under Article 67(1) of the Federal Constitution.
“I note that you have proposed the establishment of a Personal Data Protection Commission based on the new Section 47A of the bill.
“The establishment of any commission may involve issues of service, structure, appointment of officers and also involve changes in posting, salary structure and additional expenditure.
“To enable me to make a decision, I would like to ask you to obtain the opinion of the finance minister whether this bill has financial implications that are more than just incidental and substantial in accordance with Article 67(1) of the Federal Constitution.
“I can only decide on this private member’s bill after getting the confirmation as stated in the above paragraph,” Azhar said in the letter dated July 15, which was sighted by Malaysiakini.
Article 67(1) states that any bill or amendment making provisions with either direct or indirect financial implications to the government, in which the finance minister “signifies that it goes beyond what is incidental only and not of a substantial nature” in relation to the purpose of the bill or amendment, shall not be introduced or moved except by a minister.
Fahmi had previously submitted a notice of motion to the Dewan Rakyat to table a private member’s bill to amend the PDPA, seeking to give more independence to the Personal Data Protection Commission and its commissioner by making them answerable to Parliament instead of the communications and multimedia minister.
Currently, the law stipulates that it is the minister’s discretion to appoint or revoke the appointment of the commissioner.
The agency in charge of enforcing and regulating PDPA in Malaysia is known as the Private Data Protection Department but it is headed by a director-general cum commissioner.
When asked to clarify the speaker’s comment on the establishment of a new commission even though Fahmi was previously reported as seeking more independence for an existing commission, Fahmi told Malaysiakini it was a “boilerplate answer” from Azhar.
“This appears to be the same modus operandi for rejecting private member’s bills politely.
“It happened to (Pengerang MP) Azalina Othman Said’s recall election bill as well as the political financing bill proposed by (Pasir Mas MP) Ahmad Fadhli Shaari,” Fahmi said.
He added that he had resubmitted an updated bill to amend the PDPA saying that financial implications cannot be immediately ascertained.
However, he has yet to receive a response from the speaker on the updated bill.
Fahmi explained that he had received the response from Azhar around July 15 and subsequently wrote to the Finance Ministry on this matter.
The ministry has yet to respond until now, he said.
“I became suspicious when Pasir Mas’ political funding bill also received the same reply, and since the Finance Ministry still hasn’t responded, I’m releasing the letter I received from the speaker,” he said. - Mkini
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