The hasty withdrawal of the bill to amend the Election Offences Act
highlights flaws in the system of law making in Malaysia. It shows the
lack of genuine public consultation and meaningful parliamentary debate.
The bill to amend the Election Offences Act was pushed through the
Dewan Rakyat on April 19, 2012, the final day of its sitting.
Insufficient time was allocated to enable full debate of these
amendments.
May 9, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Nazri Aziz,
reportedly said that among the reasons for the subsequent withdrawal of
the bill from the Dewan Negara was that he had read blogs on the
internet which opposed the bill.
While it is admirable that an attempt at gauging public sentiment was
made, the perusal of blogs cannot be deemed genuine public
consultation. For the record, JAG and many civil society organisations
had severe misgivings about the bill as it would have reduced scrutiny
at polling stations.
In 2006, women’s human rights groups were represented in a committee
set up to amend the Islamic Family Law Act. After this committee of
experts agreed to the amendments, the draft bill was shelved. Six years
have passed and still there has been no move to introduce the bill to
Parliament. From a positive start, this particular example of law
reform fizzled out.
These two instances are prime examples of Malaysia’s questionable
process of law reform. Genuine public consultation must occur at an
early stage to ensure that the views of citizens and experts are taken
into account.
The bill drafted must then be reviewed by the consultative committee
and enough time must be allocated for debate in Parliament. Only when
this takes place will Malaysians have confidence that our parliamentary
democracy could have the potential to reflect the will of the rakyat.
Such good governance practices will result in a law that enjoys
public support as it genuinely addresses public concerns. Only when this
takes place will Malaysians have confidence that our parliamentary
democracy could have the potential to reflect the will of the rakyat.
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