Opposition MPs protest against new amendments in IPCMC bill
- UPDATED 4.11PM | Added additional comments from Liew, Noh and Nga
PARLIAMENT | Opposition MPs strongly protested against the sudden inclusion of 24 new amendments to the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill, which was tabled for its second reading in the Dewan Rakyat by Law Minister Liew Vui Keong today.
However, it was later explained that the bill with its 24 new amendments would be brought to the special select committee for consideration of bills after the debates.
"I have more than 20 years of experience in Parliament, I have never seen so many amendments to a new act...
- UPDATED 4.11PM | Added additional comments from Liew, Noh and Nga
PARLIAMENT | Opposition MPs strongly protested against the sudden inclusion of 24 new amendments to the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill, which was tabled for its second reading in the Dewan Rakyat by Law Minister Liew Vui Keong today.
However, it was later explained that the bill with its 24 new amendments would be brought to the special select committee for consideration of bills after the debates.
"I have more than 20 years of experience in Parliament, I have never seen so many amendments to a new act.
"There are 24 amendments. Why not bring it to a select committee first, as we used to do?" Noh Omar (BN-Tanjong Karang) said after Liew finished his tabling of the bill.
He voiced his dissatisfaction over the new amendments, saying it is not right to ask the parliamentarians to dive right into the debates on the bill as they were only informed about the 24 amendments today.
Deputy Speaker Rashid Hasnon called for the debate on the IPCMC bill to start and it saw more protests from the opposition MPs.
"Pass it at the policy stage first? So when you already pass it, (it is like) you marry first then only discuss?" argued Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam).
Rashid then said they can bring their concerns during the debates.
Noh agreed with Wee (above) that they should not start the debate on the IPCMC bill first, as it should have been brought to a special committee first.
"What are we debating for? What are we debating for?
"If we bring it to the select committee (after the debate) and there are amendments, will it be brought back for debate again?
"It is a waste of time. Debating on it twice," Noh said.
Hishammuddin Hussein (BN-Sembrong) also stood up to protest against this move, saying the IPCMC bill is also about the morale of the police force and should be treated with more respect.
Azalina Othman Said (BN-Pengerang) stressed that the normal procedure is for such amendments to go through a select committee first.
"If you bring it to the Dewan (Rakyat) and it is passed, and then only you bring it to the select committee, there is no meaning to the select committee," Azalina said.
The opposition MPs were not the only ones to be concerned over this turn of events. Hassan Abdul Karim (Harapan-Pasir Gudang) also agreed that this matter should first be brought to a select committee.
"If possible, the motion should be discussed by a select committee first. No need for it to be technical, just the policies and the results of the select committee should be brought to the Dewan Rakyat," Hassan (above) said, prompting various opposition MPs to loudly voice their support for him.
However, the argument remained unresolved at the time of writing as the deputy speaker adjourned the sitting for lunch at 1pm.
After lunch, deputy speaker Nga Kor Ming explained that the bill would not be passed today after the debates.
"This is the first time the government has taken the initiative to hand the bill to the special select committee for consideration of bills to discuss improvements to the bill.
"This is in line with parliament reforms which gives space and opportunities to MPs to air their views so that they can be taken into account and refined by the special select committee for consideration of bills," Nga said, adding that Azalina is part of that bipartisan committee.
As this is a new initiative, that might be why the opposition MPs felt like this has never been done before, he said.
Noh and Ismail Sabri (BN-Bera), among other opposition MPs, continued to urge for more clarification on this.
"Why wasn't it brought to the select committee first? Why do we need to debate on it twice?" Noh questioned.
Meanwhile, Ismail sought affirmation that the bill would not be passed after this round of debates.
"If we do not go through this process, those who are not in the special select committee will not be given the opportunity to debate and give their input (on the amendments).
"This bill will not be approved (for now). After we debate, the minister will bring a proposal to refer this bill to the special select committee. That is all," Nga replied.
After placating the opposition MPs, the debates on the IPCMC bill finally started.
Earlier today, Deputy Law Minister Hanipa Maidin tabled a motion to extend today's sitting until a decision was reached on the IPCMC bill.
This also met resistance from the opposition MPs who insisted this was an issue of public interest which deserved more scrutiny.
Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof eventually decided in favour of Hanipa's motion.
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