PUTRAJAYA’S decision to postpone the tabling of a select committee’s report on the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill 2019 was only made known this morning, said committee chairman Ramkarpal Singh.

The last-minute move came even after it appeared in today’s Dewan Rakyat order paper.

Ramkarpal, who is also Pakatan Harapan’s Bukit Gelugor MP, said the reasons for the deferment should be directed to the government.

“My committee has done its task. We prepared the report as early as last Wednesday and ready for tabling today.

“I was only informed of the deferment this morning. As far as I am concerned, my duty is to bring the report to Parliament.

“It is now up to the government to accept the proposals made by the select committee,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

Ramkarpal said he has yet to be informed of the reason for the deferment, which was announced in the House earlier by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Liew Vui Keong.

“You have to ask the minister, perhaps they want more time to study the proposals,” Ramkarpal said.

The postponement comes as a surprise as the select committee’s report and debate by MPs on the bill was highly anticipated today.

Rights groups had called on the government to pass the bill and ensure the IPCMC is set up, after an uphill battle against opposition by the police force since 2005 when an independent body to investigate and handle disciplinary action into police misconduct was first mooted in 2005.

Liew earlier today told the House that the second and third readings for the IPCMC bill will be postponed.

Just, yesterday he told the media that debate on the bill would be held today after Ramkarpal’s tabling of the select committee’s report.

As a result of the postponement, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof said there was no need for Ramkarpal to proceed.

The select committee report would highlight 37 amendments to the bill from the previous draft as a result of stakeholder consultations.

The original bill, drafted after a royal commission of inquiry to improve the police force in 2005 was rejected by the previous Barisan Nasional government, which introduced a much-criticised and watered-down Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission instead.

IPCMC was mooted again after Pakatan Harapan won the general election last year, but it has been difficult obtaining full buy-in from the police force and opposition MPs. – December 3, 2019.