The Malaysian Human Rights Commission's (Suhakam) decision not to submit its report on an extensive inquiry into Orang Asli land rights to Parliament at the prompting of Minister in the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Department Paul Low was only a &ldquo;suggestion&rdquo;.


 Low said the Suhakam could still present the outcome of its investigations to Parliament, if it wanted to.


 &ldquo;To be frank with them this is my suggestion, but if they want to go to Parliament it&rsquo;s up to them but this is quite complicated,&rdquo; he said when approached by journalists at the Institute of Integrity Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.


 Low (
 
 left
 
 ) said if the report is handed to the cabinet, its recommendations can be immediately acted upon.


 &ldquo;You want to make sure that the recommendations are thoroughly discussed and implemented, that is why we have formed a task force to look at it,&rdquo; he said.


 The task force is under the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Department and was due to submit a report on the recommendations it will take up from Suhakam&rsquo;s report early this year, but is still working on it.


 However, without being tabled in Parliament, the report will only be known to the government.


 Last week, Suhakam chairperson Hasmy Agam had revealed that the commission had taken Low&rsquo;s advice to submit the report directly to the government.


 Hasmy (
 
 left
 
 ) said the commissioners did express concern that the move may appear like &ldquo;backtracking&rdquo; but said they ultimately wanted to focus on the outcome, which is the government implementation of their recommendations.


 He had said if only few recommendations are taken up, then Suhakam would continue to pressure the government.


 On a separate matter, Low, who was asked about the tenures of some commissioners in the Enforcement Agencies Integrity Commssion that ended on March 31, with no replacements made, said the matter would be addressed soon.


 &ldquo;Wait for the announcement... it will be very soon, any time now,&rdquo; he said.

Paul Low says if it is handed to the cabinet, it can at once be acted on.


'Skip Parliament for report only a suggestion'

~RM12

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