Govt withdraws IPCMC, Constitution Amendment Bills

The government has withdrawn the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2019 related to the appointment of Prime Minister, and the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill 2019 from being tabled for the second reading in the Dewan Rakyat today.

The withdrawal was made by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan under Clause 62 of the Dewan Rakyat Standing Orders, after the question and answer session this morning.

“I request in accordance with Clause 62, to withdraw DR 42/2019 of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill (No. 2) 2019 and DR 25/2019 of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission Bill 2019 as stated in numbers six and seven of the Order Papers today,” he said.

The proposed amendment to the Constitution (Amendment) (No 2) seek to replace paragraph (a) of Clause (2) of Article 43 of the Federal Constitution which provides an additional criterion to qualify a House of Representatives member to be appointed as Prime Minister.

It will also stipulate that a member of the Dewan Rakyat shall not be appointed as PM if he has held the office for two terms of Parliament.

The bill to amend the Federal Constitution was tabled for the first reading on Dec 3, and placed sixth in the Order Papers for the second reading.

The IPCMC 2019 Bill was tabled for the first time in the Dewan Rakyat on July 18 last year to replace the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) to enhance the integrity and capabilities of the Royal Malaysian Police and act as an independent monitoring body to receive complaints and conduct investigations on police misconduct.

The bill was scheduled to be tabled for a second reading in the Dewan Rakyat last December but was postponed to enable improvements and was placed seventh in the Order Papers for the second reading.

On Aug 19, Takiyuddin reportedly said that the government had decided to withdraw the IPCMC Bill 2019 following objections from various parties, to be replaced with a new bill.

-- BERNAMA