IN his recent farewell speech, Inspector-General of Police Tan Adul Hamid Bador dropped a bombshell when he accused Home Minister Hamzah Zainuddin of interfering in matters of the police force. 

While we are not privy to what happens within the Royal Malaysia Police and are unable to verify those statements, it is rare to see an outgoing IGP make such serious and personal allegations. For this reason alone, his statements must not be ignored. Further, an audio clip has been leaked of the home minister indicating his wish to make a loyalist “our boy” the next IGP. 

These incidents have provided us with points to ponder regarding the governance of the police force, especially on the appointment of top police officers, i.e. how do we provide checks and balances in this often opaque process?

The IGP refers to the Police Force Commission (Suruhanjaya Pasukan Polis), which is headed by the home affairs minister. The commission is established under article 140 of the federal constitution. The commission is to be chaired by the minister the commission chairman, the IGP the chief secretary and composed of a representative of the Public Service Commission, and two to six members appointed by the king. 

The commission is supposed to appoint and regulate the promotion and transfer of the top ranking members of the police force. It should be noted that apart from the members directly appointed by the Yang diPertuan Agong, the other memberships are given to the office bearers, not individuals, which also means that the minister will only be the chairman while he is in office.

While the Minister might be right to say that he is acting with his powers as the chairman of the SPP, it is clear that the operation of the SPP is not transparent, while the leaked audio clip has pointed to favouritism and conflict of interest on his part. There are no checks and balances and the power only lies in a small group of people. Even though the appointment of the top officers are technically the king’s prerogative, in practice His Majesty only exercises that power via SPP and usually makes the appointments as the SPP advises.

It is perhaps time that we give this matters some further thoughts. After all, the selection of the country’s top cops have significant impact on our national security, which will in turn affect our daily lives. 

Parliament should have a say in the matter. The bipartisan parliamentary select committee on Defence and Home Affairs must be consulted when new police officers above certain grade is appointed, before the appointments are submitted to the king for his royal assent. By doing so, it allows the matter to be discussed by elected representatives who are answerable to the public. This also takes away the concentration of powers in SPP members. 

At the moment, parliament has no standing whatsoever to weigh in on the issue. Nevertheless, we ought to have a serious conversation about reforming our security sector and strengthening the oversight mechanism, so that it can serve the country and its people better. – May 2, 2021.

* Ivy Kwek is co-editor of Projek Pertiwi, a platform for discourses on and insights into national defence and security.
 

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.