Institutional Reform Committee (IRC) member Mah Weng Kwai has urged for the committee’s report to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to be made public.

The report was previously reported to contain recommendations for reforming Parliament, elections, the judiciary, law officers and the legal service, anti-corruption agencies, police and immigration forces, communications media and information as well as human rights.

Speaking a forum today, Mah expressed confidence in the government’s treatment of the recommendations and said Mahathir had received the report well.

“Moving forward, (this is something) I think (IRC member) Ambiga Sreenevasan and I share this very passionately, which is to have this report made public.

“I would most certainly be very disappointed if this is treated as another exercise (where) everyone thinks we are doing something about it but then it gets shelved,” Mah said during the Freedom of Speech and Expression: A New Malaysian Perspective on the Challenges of a Post-Truth Age forum in Kuala Lumpur tonight.

The forum is part of the ongoing International Malaysia Law Conference 2018.

Elaborating further, Mah, a Suhakam commissioner, said making the report public would enable more transparency and garner valuable feedback.

“We want to inform the public of our finished work... and once people get to read it, they will be able to offer their views and disagreements, and give us feedback.

'Consultation will enrich reform process'

Ambiga later confirmed her support for making the report public and similarly believed that public feedback would enhance the report.

"We may have missed an angle or some practical issues, and I believe public consultation will only enrich the reform process," she told Malaysiakini.

The IRC was formed shortly after the May 9 election to complement the Council of Eminent Persons on matters of institutional reform. In the production of its report, the committee met with many civil society organisations and reviewed more than 1,000 written submissions from the public.

Comprising Mah and Ambiga, as well as Universiti Malaya law professor Shad Saleem Faruqi and Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan president Mohd Arshad Raji, the IRC is chaired by Court of Appeal judge KC Vohrah.