KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 — The Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) for major public appointments should have had a say in the appointment of the eight new Suhakam commissioners instead of this being solely the prime minister’s prerogative, Bersih 2.0 said today.
The polls reform group said it was disappointed that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad appointed the commissioners before allowing the PSC to vet them beforehand, pointing out that the PSC was formed back in December 2019.
“The prime minister followed the letter of the law but ignored the spirit and promises of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) Manifesto where it clearly stated in Promise 26 that the appointment of Suhakam Commissioners will be done through a parliamentary committee,” Bersih 2.0 said in a statement.
It said that providing for the PSC’s input would have shown the PM’s commitment to Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto as well as respect for Parliament’s role as an effective check and balance to the Executive, even if process has not yet been encoded in the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Act 1999 (Act 597).
“Bersih 2.0 urges the PM and the PH government to expedite without delay the necessary legislative amendments to the process by which key appointments are made so that such unbridled power that currently rest in the hands of the PM can be effectively checked to prevent abuses of power,” Bersih 2.0 added.
It proposed a process that would involve not just the PSC but also a Nomination Committee comprising individuals who are not involved in partisan politics to call for nominations from the public and undertake the first round vetting of potential candidates.
Shortlisted names would then be forwarded to the PSC to interview in public inquiries and further shortlisted for the PM and his Cabinet to select.
“For the appointment of the Suhakam commissioners, Section 5(2) of Act 597 should be amended to compel the current Selection Committee to publish the name of candidates in order for members of the public to submit comments before interview or shortlisting in order to ensure the candidates are of impeccable integrity. The process should be more transparent and shortlisted candidates forwarded to the PSC for further vetting.
“Indeed there is a need to know who the composition of this Selection Committee and how they are appointed. The Committee should be pluralistic and not dominated by civil servants,” the group said.
The Prime Minister’s Office announced yesterday that former Foreign Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Othman Hashim will be the new chairman of Suhakam.
Hashim’s appointment, along with eight new commissioners, have been approved by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, and their terms of service effectively beginning on April 27, 2019, and lasting for three years.
The new commissioners are Datuk Seri Mohd Hishamudin Md. Yunus, Medaline Berma, Datuk Godfrey Gregory, Datuk Mah Weng Kwai, Datuk Lok Yim Pheng, Prof Nik Salida Suhaila Nik Saleh and Jerald S. Joseph.
With the exception of Hishamudin and Medaline, all other commissioners had served in the previous term as Suhakam commissioners under the leadership of Tan Sri Razali Ismail, who resigned as chairman on April 16 of this year.
Razali had served the commission since 2016 and was supposed to have completed his term on April 27, but had resigned two weeks earlier to help with the transition of the new chairman.
