Govt to revive long-stalled Ombudsman Bill

PARLIAMENT | Putrajaya will introduce a bill to create the long-stalled Ombudsman Malaysia agency to deal with complaints on public services and the government.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said said the government intends to provide Ombudsman Malaysia with investigative powers and would require the new agency to report to Parliament annually.

The government will study similar laws in the UK, New Zealand, Sweden, Australia, Hong Kong, Philippines, Thailand, Gambia and Namibia, she added.

"The formation of an efficient and powerful ombudsman is very important to ensure an effective administration of the civil service," she said.

Azalina said this in a written reply to a question from Abdul Hadi Awang (PN-Marang) who asked if the government would set up an ombudsman to curb wrongdoings among politicians and civil servants.

She explained that the Public Complaints Bureau is the main mechanism used for handling complaints on public service.

However, the bureau does not have legal powers to conduct investigations nor could it compel other arms of the government to comply with its recommendations.

Every administration since 2019 has pledged to set up an ombudsman. The Dr Mahathir Mohamad administration had planned to set up the ombudsman by the first quarter of 2020.

During the Muhyiddin Yassin administration, then law minister Takiyuddin Hassan claimed in November 2020 that the Attorney-General's Chambers was scrutinising the draft Ombudsman Bill.

When it came to Ismail Sabri Yaakob's government, he told Parliament in September 2021 that the bill would be tabled "latest by 2022".

As for Hadi, he had been urging the government to set up an ombudsman since at least 2020.

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