Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
| Safety and Accountability : Prevention of Crime Act and Auditor General Report Posted: 04 Oct 2013 10:22 AM PDT
Detained under the ISA, an Act intended for communists - MTadmin The first issue is the amendment of PCA where I do not see any reason why the opposition and its supporters are so terrified. Have they read the contents of the amendment? Have they not compared? The amendment and PCA itself are intended for hardcore criminals, not hardcore politicians, unless they are involved in crime. How to guarantee this? Take a look at SOSMA, you do not see politicians being detained. Hafizuddin Amir Bin Dato' Hasim, UKM Law Student These last few months have really tested the government's ability to govern a nation with a small margin. It also shows the importance of having a strong central government balanced by a responsible opposition. The series of issues started when the government decided to reduce subsidies on petrol price that also meant a price hike and then followed by the cigarette price hike, the controversy of the Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) and the Auditor General Report. The mood now is aggression. But what is more important is how relevant ministers responded to this aggression directed towards them. The first issue is the amendment of PCA where I do not see any reason why the opposition and its supporters are so terrified. Have they read the contents of the amendment? Have they not compared? The amendment and PCA itself are intended for hardcore criminals, not hardcore politicians, unless they are involved in crime. How to guarantee this? Take a look at SOSMA, you do not see politicians being detained. The police through the IGP have complained that the force does not have enough tools to deal with organized crime, besides lacking manpower. This happened due to the repeals of the Restricted Resident Act and the Internal Security Act. I see that their main fear is that detention without trial which is synonymous to the ISA is back. But besides PCA being only for criminals, its detention order is not under the Minister of Home Affairs, unlike ISA. This new amendment will see an Advisory Board made up by senior judges who will advise on the detention and the High Court shall have the final say. One of the reasons of this amendment is to make the law applicable to Sabah and Sarawak, unlike before. This means the police have more territorial power over the criminals and their teeth "sharpened". This amendment is merely for deterrence and prevention as the current state is just retribution. All in all PCA is about being able to nab the wrongdoer before he can strike and they are the ones who should be more worried with this amendment, not politicians. This amendment will no doubt create a safer and more secured environment but only if it is enforced appropriately without fear and favour. The force should make strengthening their resources, manpower and accountability as a continuous agenda because tougher laws does not guarantee tougher enforcement. However, regarding the Auditor General Report, it has pointed the finger to a few ministries about financing misconduct and wastages and this is an area where the government should take things more seriously and respond accordingly. This is also an area where the people are so judgmental of the government and looking at the report, they are right to be so. If the government is serious about transformation and implementing the agendas under the ETP, GTP and so on, they cannot afford not to address this and most importantly to eradicate it. Politicians running the state government and federal government administration must make corruption eradication and accountable administration paramount. Considering the people seeing what they want to believe, being able to respond factually and maturely is as important as developing the nation. Plus, the opposition should not feel too comfortable about this since some misconduct in their state government companies, subsidiaries and agencies have also been proven. Perhaps a crisis management unit led by experts, experienced and independent ones, should be set up in all agencies, departments and ministries to deal with this global problem, especially in the implementation and monitoring part. But it is seen that a few ministries and authorities have responded to the report and we must be fair by assessing both sides of the story. In a nutshell Malaysians have voted for their representatives and are hopeful for a return in point of the betterment of themselves, their families and their nation besides having their own role to play. |
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