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Cabinet should make public the 57-page Interim Report of the Police Royal Commission submitted in August last year to fully involve Malaysians and the civil society in far-reaching reforms to transform the Malaysian police into a world-class, 21st century people-centric service which keeps crime low, upholds human rights and imbued  with zero tolerance for corruption

Media Statement

by Lim Kit Siang

(Parliament, Monday): The Cabinet on Wednesday should make public the 57-page Interim Report of the Police Royal Commission submitted in August last year to fully involve Malaysians and the civil society in far-reaching reforms to transform the Malaysian police into a world-class, 21st-century people-centric service which keeps crime low, upholds human rights and is  imbued  with zero tolerance for corruption.

So long as Members of Parliament and the civil society are denied access to the Interim Report of the Police Royal Commission,  an  ever larger shadow is cast over  the credibility and  legitimacy of the commitment  of the  Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to lead a clean, incorruptible, efficient,  accountable, transparent, trustworthy and people-oriented administration.

Several Police Royal Commissioners have expressed surprise that their Interim Report submitted last August had not been made public and is still withheld from Members of Parliament and the civil society, as they said that the clear intention of the Police Royal Commission was that their  Interim Report should be made public.

There should be a full inquiry as to who in government had frustrated the intention of the Police Royal Commission that their Interim Report last August should be made public, but meanwhile, the Cabinet on Wednesday should take the decision to make the Interim Report public immediately.

There are two other decisions on the Police Royal Commission Report which the Cabinet should take on Wednesday:

  • Post immediately on the Ministry of Internal Security website both the Police Royal Commission Report and the Interim Report so that they are freely available to all interested persons, as is the practice with reports of royal commissions of inquiry or other bodies on police in other “first-world” countries; and
     

  • Schedule  a three-day parliamentary debate on the Police Royal Commission Report and its 125 recommendations as the first item of parliamentary business when Parliament reconvenes on June 20.

A month has passed since the submission of the Police Royal Commission Report to the Yang di Pertuan Agong and the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi  on 29th April 2005, but there are still many unanswered questions about the government’s position and response to the report.

 On Saturday, Abdullah told reporters after opening the 59th MIC annual general assembly that he was looking into and the government would begin implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission to enhance the operations and management of the police.

 He said the recommendations needed to be studied because some could be implemented in the short-term while others would have to be done over the long -term.

 I have  three questions for  the Prime Minister, viz:

  • Is Abdullah fully committed to accepting and implementing ALL the 125 recommendations of the Police Royal Commission to transform the Malaysian police into a world-class, 21st-century organization that is efficient, clean and trustworthy, people-centric and upholds human rights?
     

  • Who are the members of the Task Force headed by the Prime Minister on the implementation of the Police Royal Commission recommendations, why other Cabinet Ministers particularly from the non-UMNO parties have been excluded, as all that has been reported is that the Task Force will comprise senior officials from the Public Services Department, the Treasury, Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Internal Security Ministry.
     

  • When will the Task Force hold its inaugural meeting as it is already a full month since the submission of the Police Royal Commission Report to the King and the Prime Minister, whether the Prime Minister will present the Task Force’s Action Plan to implement the 125 recommendations of the Police Royal Commission as a White Paper in Parliament when it reconvenes on June 20.

As all  Malaysians who want to see the Police Royal Commission Report taken seriously by the government and to result in meaningful police reforms await the Prime Minister’s answer to these three questions, Abdullah should respond and enlighten MPs and the civil society on these three items without further delay.

(30/05/2005)      

                                                       

*  Lim Kit Siang, Parliamentary Opposition Leader, MP for Ipoh Timur & DAP Central Policy and Strategic Planning Commission Chairman