THE government has postponed debates for two new bills plus amendments to current legislation to focus on amendments to the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988.

At the start of proceedings in Parliament today, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Parliament) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar told Dewan Rakyat that the bills will be pushed to the next sitting in accordance with standing order 62.

The anti-sexual harassment bill 2021 and the independent police conduct commission bill 2020 were pushed back, along with amendments to the Employment Act, Control of Supplies Act, and Offenders Compulsory Attendance Act.

Today is the last time the Dewan Rakyat will sit this year.

The government is having to water down harsh penalties it had intended to push through in amendments to the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 following a public outcry on Tuesday.

The revision notes three items: amendment no 9 says that the maximum punishment for individuals under section 24(a) will be changed to “RM50,000 or maximum jail term of three years”, effectively halving its original intended penalty of RM100,000 or maximum jail term of seven years or both.

Under the current law, a person committing a first offence under the act is liable to a prison term of up to two years. The term for the second and subsequent offices is raised to five years. – December 16, 2021.