Law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said today cited pushback from certain states as one of the reasons behind the delay in setting up the proposed Ombudsman Malaysia.
Speaking in the Dewan Rakyat, she said stakeholder engagements had revealed “objections from several states” to the idea of the independent body.
“Some states already have their own ombudsman. Some are in the process of setting one up, and some do not want any involvement, even in terms of monitoring state-level agencies,” she said in response to a supplementary question from Syahredzan Johan (PH-Bangi).
Syahredzan had asked whether the proposed Ombudsman would handle matters outside the jurisdiction of the federal government, such as issues under local authorities or state governments.
Azalina said the new body would replace the public complaints bureau (BPA) and the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission, serving as an independent one-stop centre to handle public complaints, maladministration, and misconduct by enforcement officers.
She also said the government was considering incorporating powers from the Whistleblower Protection Act and freedom of information laws in the ombudsman framework.
“My hope is that, if possible, we can do this in the next session in October,” she said.
It was previously reported that the government was finalising the implementation details for the Ombudsman Malaysia, expected to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat in early 2025.
Che Mohamad Zulkifly Jusoh (PN-Besut) warned that public trust could suffer if ombudsman members themselves lacked integrity, asking “Who watches the watchdog?” and questioning safeguards to avoid the same delays and weaknesses plaguing the BPA.
Azalina said the BPA was hampered as it operated under government control.
“It should be free. Of course, anyone running the BPA, the bosses at the top, would not want to criticise the bosses above them. That is a fact we heard during stakeholder engagement,” she said.
