KUALA LUMPUR – Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Harun today revealed that the delay in the tabling of the Sexual Harassment Bill in Parliament was partly caused by the change in government earlier this year.
She said the bill is now only expected to be tabled in the House for the first reading next year, but did not elaborate on the timeframe.
Responding to a bombardment of questions from Kasthuri Patto (PH-Batu Kawan), the minister said the draft of the bill has been submitted to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
However, she said there were several improvements that needed to be made, before blaming the regime change for the hold-up.
“If there was no government change, I believe it wouldn't have ended up like this (delayed),” she said in her ministry’s Budget 2021 winding-up speech at the committee stage in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Kasthuri responded by saying: “So the minister agrees that this is caused by the government change, and now the rakyat will be the victim.”
She had also asked what stumbling block the ministry is facing that is resulting in it taking so long to finalise the bill, with the document sitting in the Attorney-General’s Chambers for months.
Rina gave her assurance that the bill will still be tabled, saying she would push for it to be completed as soon as possible.
Earlier, Rina had said that, while the ministry drafted the bill, it still needs to coordinate and obtain more feedback from other ministries and agencies.
In the meantime, she said there are existing provisions to protect women from sexual harassment.
In July, Rina had said that the bill was expected to be tabled for the first reading in Parliament during the current sitting.
Originally, the tabling was supposed to take place in March, but was pushed back due to the change in administration. – The Vibes, December 8, 2020
