Urging the committee to end the “secrecy culture” in law-making, Bersih reminded it that the involvement of the public was necessary because the laws affected them.
“Bersih urges the committee on the anti-hopping bill to inform and involve the public so that the resultant bill will meet the public’s expectation and necessary compromises will enjoy public support,” the Bersih steering committee said in a statement.
The group also called on the committee to not apply laws such as the Official Secrets Act to restrict legislative deliberations and obstruct the public’s knowledge about the bill’s progress.
While the minutes of the committee’s internal meeting could be kept confidential, PSC should at least make public the key decisions of the meetings and the progress of the bill.
“The April 11 parliamentary debate suggests that a key disagreement on the AHL is whether MPs expelled by their parties should also be expelled from the House.
“The public must be informed on this pertinent question and the proposed remedies to ensure that the AHL would not be derailed, defective or destructive to parliamentary democracy.”
Bersih reminded the committee that the bill must not be drafted opaquely or rushed through Parliament.
The proposed amendment to the Constitution was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on April 11 but it was then decided that the bill be referred to the PSC for further scrutiny.
The Pakatan Harapan presidential council said the bill would be tabled and passed in Parliament before the end of May.
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