The Suhakam secretariat expects to carry on its work as usual and continue to act on urgent complaints, despite being without its chairperson and commissioners as of yesterday.

"We will definitely carry on receiving complaints as usual. If a memorandum needs to be addressed urgently, such as a housing demolishment, we will act on it," said the commission's acting secretary Choo Eng Hong.

The terms of the 11 commissioners and chairperson Abu Talib Othman expired on Saturday, leaving the four and a half year-old human rights commission without its commissioners for the first time.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who now oversees the body, told the press yesterday that appointments would be made this week.

Some believe that the delay is due to the transfer of Suhakam from the jurisdiction of the Foreign Affairs Ministry to the Prime Minister's Department. Suhakam has been placed under Najib's stewardship.

Core projects

According to Choo, staff will continue their work under the five main working groups and continue preparing the reports that were not presented during the previous commissioners' term.

Other projects that are the pipeline, such as public awareness workshops, would also be carried on until the next batch of commissioners is appointed, he said.

He added that its plans in these areas are not expected to be shelved since these are considered part of Suhakam's core human rights work.

Speaking to malaysiakini yesterday, two-term commissioner Prof Hamdan Adnan said the delay in appointments would ultimately reflect badly on the body, even though it is the "responsibility of the government to ensure that there is no lag."

"We have continued to do our work right until the expiry of our term. But if the government does not prioritise the appointments of the commissioners, then it truly reflects their intention for Suhakam," Hamdan said.

The law provides for a commission of up to 20 members. However, only 12 seats were filled under the previous term.

This was down from 14 commissioners at the start of the latest two-year term, following the resignation of former parliamentarian Lee Lam Thye and the death of former Federal Court judge Harun Hashim last September.