KUALA LUMPUR – Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) is calling on the police to convince the government of the viability and effectiveness of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).
TI-M president Dr Muhammad Mohan said the police's top brass, including Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador, must persuade the government on the need to table the IPCMC bill in the Dewan Rakyat.
However, Muhammad said that, instead of proceeding with the current "watered down" version of the Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC) Bill 2020, the police must push for the fully fledged IPCMC, which is aimed at uplifting the image, beefing up accountability as well as improving the welfare of the police force.
"TI-M is pleased with the IGP’s comments that he will get to the bottom of the dirty cops cartel, which is tarnishing the good name of the Royal Malaysian Police force.
"Something must be done because, in a recent survey entitled Global Corruption Barometer 2020 for Malaysia, 30% of Malaysians view our police force as corrupt due to the act of a few bad police officers tarnishing the image of the force."
Meanwhile, Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) executive director Cynthia Gabriel said the latest admission by Hamid indicates that all concerned parties cannot compromise on the setting up of an independent oversight body.
"The IGP has said many times before that a real clean-up is needed. Examples (such as) the Macau Scam and several other scandals indicate that many police personnel are involved in criminal activities and corruption.
"They should be put on ice and a full clean-up is needed. It is really time to get clean," she told The Vibes yesterday.
In an interview with Utusan Malaysia, Hamid had said mid-level senior police officers were behind the cartel before pledging to eradicate corruption among personnel in the force.
The IPCMC Bill, which was first tabled by the Pakatan Harapan administration in July 2019, was withdrawn by the Perikatan Nasional government in August last year and replaced with the IPCC Bill 2020.
The IPCMC had faced resistance by the then opposition bloc comprising Barisan Nasional, PAS and Gabungan Parti Sarawak, as well as the Retired Senior Police Officers Association of Malaysia (Respa).
Respa had said that provisions, such as the disciplinary powers that reside with the Police Force Commission in the bill, conflicted with certain articles of the federal constitution.
However, critics of the IPCC, including TI-M have said that the bill is flawed, citing provisions allowing top police officers to influence and intervene in investigations involving misconduct.
The new bill, according to TI-M also allows witnesses who are also incidentally police officers, to recuse themselves from answering questions during an investigation involving misconduct.
The IPCC is expected to be tabled in the first session of the Dewan Rakyat this year. – The Vibes, January 6, 2021
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