KRPPM-IGAR's demands making positive progress towards implementation

KUALA LUMPUR - The demand proposed by the Integrity, Governance, and Anti-Corruption Parliamentary Cross-Party Group (KRPPM-IGAR) to bring the reform agenda into the institution is now entering a new phase and showing positive signs of being implemented.

KRPPM-IGAR Chairman Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh said the group's demand regarding the separation of powers of the Attorney-General and the Public Prosecutor has received the attention of the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform), Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, which is now in the detail stage before it can be implemented.

"Regarding the development of claims on the separation, it has now been discussed and received a positive response from the government.

"I was informed that several things have been immediately taken into action by the government, the first of which is that they have established a special task force, which is to do a comparative study; the second is a technical study team; it was discussed in a meeting two days ago; and also the enforcement phase.

"However, because it involves major amendments to the law, it will take some time to implement," he told Sinar Harian after chairing the KRPPM-IGAR meeting in Parliament today.

Earlier, Azalina in the Dewan Rakyat said that the study to implement the separation of the roles of the Attorney-General and the Public Prosecutor will go through three phases, taking into account the complexity and challenges faced and ensuring that it is done in detail and holistically.

In addition, the study carried out by two established teams, namely the Special Task Force for Comparative Studies and the Special Technical Task Force, will ensure that the isolation can be carried out without any political influence and that legal affairs under the Attorney-General and Public Prosecutor are carried out transparently.

Azalina said in the first phase, the Special Task Force on Comparative Studies is conducting a study based on evidence from several countries to examine and formulate the most appropriate model in the Malaysian context, taking into account the 'hawcross principle' and the 'doctrine of independent aloofness'.

Commenting further, Syed Noh said that for other demands, the group will continue to be mobilised to ensure comprehensive reform of institutions in the country can be implemented.

"Because this team has each of our expertise, we will move according to capacity, because ultimately we want to see the reform done," he said.

In addition to demands for the separation of powers between the Attorney-General and the Prosecutor, this group also proposes institutional reforms, including amendments to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act and the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010, the separation of the role of the Attorney-General from the function of the prosecutor, the drafting of a government procurement act and a political funding act, parliamentary reform, and the full implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP).