KUALA LUMPUR (July 14): A group of lawmakers urged the government to expedite the Ombudsman Bill, companion legislation to the Freedom of Information Bill, to ensure full scrutiny of both Bills.
The Freedom of Information Bill was intended to operate alongside an Ombudsman Bill, which is referenced throughout the primary legislation, but lawmakers had yet to receive the draft, a group of five lawmakers said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
The absence of the Ombudsman Bill made it difficult for a full assessment of the proposed freedom of information framework, they said, calling on the government to complete an advanced draft of the legislation before submitting both Bills for further scrutiny.
The statement was signed by Members of Parliament Wong Chen (PH-Subang), Kesavan Subramaniam (PH-Sungai Siput), Lee Chean Chung (PH-Petaling Jaya), Hassan Abdul Karim (PH-Pasir Gudang) and Zahir Hassan (PH-Wangsa Maju).
On Monday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said tabled the Freedom of Information Bill 2026 for its first reading in the Dewan Rakyat.
The Bill seeks to establish a procedural framework governing requests by individuals for access to information contained in official documents held by public authorities.
However, several civil society organisations have urged the government to withdraw and review the proposed legislation, arguing that it creates a restrictive administrative process rather than establishing a substantive right to information.
Following the concerns raised, Azalina on Tuesday tabled a motion to refer the Bill to a special parliamentary select committee to be established for further scrutiny.
The five backbenchers welcomed the government’s decision to refer the Bill to a special select committee but called for at least one of the signatories to be appointed to the committee to ensure concerns raised are directly represented during deliberations.
“We support the introduction of a federal Freedom of Information law,” they stressed. “Malaysians deserve a government that is more transparent, accountable and open.”
However, the current draft is “unsatisfactory and falls short of the spirit and purpose of having freedom of information legislation", they said.
The lawmakers also urged the government to consider existing freedom of information laws in Selangor and Penang, which were introduced by Pakatan Harapan state governments, as references when redrafting the Bill.
While not perfect, the states' laws were “substantially better” than the current federal draft, they noted.
Further, the MPs also criticised the current legislative process, saying stakeholder engagements without access to the actual draft text provided limited value and called for access to draft legislation at least two weeks before a Bill is tabled to allow concerns to be identified and addressed.
Parliament needs to embrace a new culture “so that MPs can professionally discharge their duties, uphold the Federal Constitution and end the rubber stamping", they added.
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