Government, Parliament Urged to Strengthen FOI Bill

SHAH ALAM: The government and Parliament have been urged to strengthen the federal Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill to guarantee the public’s right to access information through effective and enforceable legislation.

The call was made in a joint statement by Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) Executive Director Wathshlah Naidu, Nalini Elumalai of ARTICLE 19 and Prishanth Linggaraj of the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center), in conjunction with the International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI).

They said the Bill still requires improvements to meet international standards on transparency and access to information.

“The Bill needs to be strengthened as an assessment by the Centre for Law and Democracy awarded it only 47 out of 150 points based on the Right to Information Rating methodology,” they said in the joint statement on Monday.

They were of the view that the Bill had yet to meet the appropriate standards to be regarded as comprehensive transparency legislation.

However, they welcomed the government’s move to introduce the Bill and refer it to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) following its first reading in July.

They said the legislation should be aligned with Article 10(1)(a) of the Federal Constitution, principles of international law and recommendations put forward by civil society.

“One of the key demands is to make disclosure of information the fundamental principle and secrecy the exception.

“In addition, the FOI law should not be weakened by existing provisions, including the Official Secrets Act,” the statement said.

They also called for the establishment of an FOI Commission as an independent oversight body with the authority to review rejected information requests, order the disclosure of documents and monitor the implementation of the law.

Call for Transparency Over Najib’s Conditional Pardon

In the same statement, they also urged the government to disclose documents related to the conditional pardon and house arrest of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

They said such disclosure was important to enable the public to understand the basis for decisions made.

“The documents include the minutes of the Pardons Board meeting, the Attorney General’s written representations, the full conditions of the house arrest and the legal basis used for its implementation,” they said.

They also called for the disclosure of information on monitoring and enforcement mechanisms for compliance, as well as public expenditure associated with the arrangement.

According to the statement, the demand was not intended to challenge the pardoning powers provided for under the Federal Constitution, but rather to seek greater transparency in their implementation.

“Constitutional power is not a licence for institutional secrecy,” the statement said.

They stressed that access to accurate, reliable and timely public information is crucial to ensuring informed public participation, enhancing accountability and strengthening confidence in public institutions.

At the same time, they announced the launch of a campaign to assess and highlight the level of support among Members of Parliament for a stronger FOI Bill, with further details to be shared on social media in the near future.

Sinar Harian