KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — The 2019 Independent Police Complaints of Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill has been referred to the Select Committee to be discussed more closely before being taken into Dewan Rakyat.

This had been decided by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof after the Bill was heatedly discussed and debated by over 20 Members of Parliament for almost six hours.

Before the decision was made, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong told the members of Dewan Rakyat that the bill was not hastily drafted to prove that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government cultivated and appreciated the views given by the Members of Parliament.

"The membership of the Select Committee does not comprise all the Members of Parliament, only a few, so they cannot be representing the views of all Members of Parliament.

"Today we open for discussions in Dewan Rakyat so all can give their views and all will be recorded and the Select Committee can refer to the hansard and decide on a direction for the matter that will be tabled later,” he said.

Earlier, the Dewan Rakyat was chaotic after the Opposition urged the Members of Parliament not to waste time to debate the bill and wanted it to be taken straight to the Select Committee to be further scrutinised.

The brouhaha occurred after Liew tabled the bill for second reading and it dragged until Dewan Rakyat stopped for a break.

The 2019 IPCPC Bill was tabled for the first time in Dewan Rakyat on July 18 and it was aimed at replacing the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) to boost the integrity and capability of the Royal Malaysian Police (RMC). 

IPCMC would act as an independent monitoring body to receive complaints and conduct investigations on misconducts among police personnel.

The meeting continues tomorrow. — Bernama