THE Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) bill, which was referred to the select committee after unhappiness over it, will be re-tabled before the current meeting ends, said de facto law minister Liew Vui Keong.

Liew told The Malaysian Insight that Parliament’s Consideration of Bills select committee’s deadline to return the IPCMC bill to the chamber for debate and endorsement is now November 18.

On Monday, in an unprecedented move after a whole day of debate, Dewan Rakyat moved to refer the IPCMC bill after its second reading after opposition members repeatedly raised queries on several aspects of the proposed commission.

Adding to the unhappiness was the number of changes made to the bill from the time it was tabled for first reading at the last meeting in July and the current meeting. Putrajaya introduced 24 changes.

The bill, which was tabled by Liew, was debated by 30 MPs before Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof allowed a motion to refer the bill to the select committee, which was carried by a majority voice vote.

The Consideration of Bills select committee is headed by Ramkarpal Singh (Bukit Gelugor-PH), who replaced Nurul Izzah Anwar (Permatang Pauh-PH). The other members are Rusnah Aluai (Tangga Batu-PH), Su Keong Siong (Kampar-PH), Larry Sng (Julau-PH), Wilfred Madius Tangau (Tuaran-Upko), Azalina Othman Said (Pengerang-BN) and Wan Junaidi Jaafar (Santubong-GPS).

The committee will now look at the bill and iron out the ambiguities raised during the debate and work out details to everyone’s satisfaction.

During the debate, Liew said that the bill was not hastily drafted to prove that the PH government cultivated and appreciated the views given by the lawmakers.

“The membership of the select committee does not comprise all the MPs, only a few, so they cannot be representing the views of all members of parliament.

“We opened it for discussions in Dewan Rakyat so all can give their views and all will be recorded. The select committee can refer to the Hansard and decide on a direction for the matter that will be tabled later,” he said.

IPCMC bill was tabled for the first time in Dewan Rakyat on July 18 and is aimed at replacing the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) to boost the integrity and capability of the Royal Malaysian Police (RMC).

IPCMC will act as an independent monitoring body to receive complaints and conduct investigations on misconducts among police personnel.

In his winding-up speech, Liew told MPs the IPCMC was drafted in accordance with the federal constitution, which gave Parliament the power to enact a law to monitor the police.

He refuted opposition claims that Putrajaya had rushed the drafting of the bill, saying that the government had taken its time and engaged the police force.

Liew said the EAIC was ineffective, as it could only recommend punishment to the police’s disciplinary authorities and not act against errant cops. – October 11, 2019.