PUTRAJAYA, May 22 -- The new Pakatan Harapan federal government is in the process of establishing an Independent Police Complaints-Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), Minister of Home Affairs Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today.
Muhyiddin made the announcement here on the first day at work as home affairs minister under a new ruling coalition that took over on May 9.
The Pagoh MP said the setting up of the commission is part of the pledges made by PH in its election manifesto. The four-party coalition had vowed to reform the police force.
“It's a longstanding idea so we are looking into it,” Muhyiddin told a press conference at the ministry's main office here.
Police reform was a key election promise of PH, a point Muhyiddin stressed today as he vowed to see through the coalition’s promises to uphold civil liberties.
This included the pledge to review and repeal a slew of laws that contravened human rights, particularly those that had been used to silence political critics then.
Muhyiddin said KDN staff were briefed about PH’s plan to scrutinise them.
“In our manifesto we said we will review laws like the Printing Publications Act; the Sedition Act; the Peaceful Assembly Act; the Prevention of Crime Act and the Security Offences (Special Measures Act),” Muhyiddin said.
“This is my first day at work but I have already briefed them, so we will look and review these laws to see if there is a need for them.”
As for the police, rights groups have long urged the government to reform a force tainted by decades of alleged corruption, accusations of power abuse and political interference.
Muhyiddin said he took note of the allegations, and has made battling graft within the police force a key agenda.
“Corruption in the police force is a major issue,” he said.
“We know that the people are disgusted by this so my job is to make sure graft within the force is eliminated.”
In 2007, the Barisan Nasional government itself formed a Royal Commission of Inquiry to look into how best to implement these reforms.
The panel made several recommendations , which among others, was to establish an independent oversight to police the police. It came to be known as the IPCMC.
