COMMENT | Law must be in sync with sound political culture

COMMENT | Media reports that the legislation for the establishment of Ombudsman Malaysia – an independent body to address the wide range of public complaints against government departments or agencies - is now slated for Parliament tabling in October.

It is said the federal government is in the final stage of engaging stakeholders such as NGOs and civil society organisations (CSOs) to fine-tune the Bill for eventual cabinet approval.

In justifying the establishment of the said ombudsman, the minister in charge reasoned: “When we speak of accountable government, one of the elements is that complaints must be allowed.”

Historically speaking, the initial proposal for the establishment of Ombudsman Malaysia to replace the Public Complaints Bureau (PCB) was made in 2018 by then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

I was privy to that proposal as at the material time, I was the deputy minister of law.

When PAS became the government in Terengganu for the first time, it established a hisbah institution - the Islamic version of the ombudsman system.

Good idea but…

But it seemed that such an institution was merely a lip service exercise without any meaningful achievements.

Truth be said, the idea of establishing an ombudsman is remarkable indeed, at least in theory. In essence, an ombudsman is about bringing transparency and accountability - the hallmark of good governance.

It is often said the first modern ombudsman’s office was established in Sweden in 1809, aimed at protecting the rights of citizens against the executive branch.

Many believe that to have a functioning and workable ombudsman system, the following two primary ingredients ought to be present - firm and stable democracy as well as the rule of law.

For the record, the pioneers of the ombudsman system (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and New Zealand) are all high-income, stable democracies with a sound rule of law.

Hence, it goes without saying that in those countries, the system is highly successful.

Be that as it may, it is highly advisable for the government to ensure that those two fundamental elements are firmly entrenched so the proposed ombudsman will be highly efficacious in attaining its desired goals and objectives.

The last thing people want is for such an institution to end up being a white elephant.

After all, a new law means a new budget, hence, a new burden to the government. Thus, every single sen spent ought to produce the best results.

Law or legal institutions alone are insufficient to create good governance. To have a solid and healthy legal institution, the law cannot work in silos.

Law and a sound political culture ought to be in sync.

Unfortunately, the nation has a bad track record. Despite having a law clearly prohibiting the act of party hopping, the nation is still infected with the culture of mandate betrayal.

It seems that until and unless our political culture is drastically changed, the creation of any new legislation would not be sufficient in providing an effective panacea to our political maladies.

MOHAMED HANIPA MAIDIN is a former deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law).

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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