Ombudsman Bill 2023 helps to hear and investigate malpractice transparently, says veteran social activist

SHAH ALAM - Veteran social activist Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye believes that the time has come for the establishment of the Ombudsman Bill 2023 in Malaysia, as it will result in cases of malpractice to be investigated more transparently.

The government will table the Ombudsman Malaysia 2023 Bill in Parliament in October.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform), Datuk Azalina Othman Said was reported as saying that the Ombudsman Bill functions to handle complaints of misconduct and abuse in public service.

"Since the nineties, I have been calling on the government to introduce the Ombudsman Bill, which I believe can help improve integrity and governance in dealing with public complaints. Establishing the Malaysian Ombudsman bill is a progressive step.

"I hope this can be part of the effort to reduce bureaucracy and improve administrative efficiency in all government departments and agencies," he explained.

Lee added that the enactment of this notion would end up resulting in the development of the Ombudsman system, which will resolve all public concerns on the shortcomings of all departments and agencies.

"Ombudsman comes from a Swedish word meaning 'complainant' or 'representative or agent of the people'. It is also referred to in the Oxford Dictionary as the 'defender of the people' and a person appointed to protect the people from abuse or abuse of administrative power by the ruler.

"The ombudsman is a friend and protector of the people who is entrusted to personally investigate allegations of wrongdoing by various public authorities against the community.

"In the early 1970s, Malaysia wanted to consider such a system and actually studied the New Zealand Ombudsman model with a view to its implementation," he added.

However, Lee said that it had been shelved, and instead a Public Complaints Bureau was established.

"Almost all developed countries have an Ombudsman, and this is a timely move to address public grievances against any public authority in line with the new government's emphasis on improving the delivery of the best public services ."

He also expressed his hopes that this bill can be established by the end of this year or early next year.