Harapan S Backtrack On Whistleblowers Engaging The Media

---

Yesterday, Pakatan Harapan supremo and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim defended the controversial provision under the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010.
The provision essentially means whistleblowers would forfeit their protected status if they approached the media first, before reporting the transgression to the authorities.
His stance appears to be at odds with what his own coalition had promised in their 15th general election manifesto.
Under its chapter on initiatives to combat corruption, the manifesto stated that Harapan would amend the Whistleblowers Protection Act to allow whistleblowers to expose misappropriations directly to the media.
“Carrying out the amendment in an urgent manner will form a control mechanism for integrity and any leakage that will impact the finances of the country will be impeded at an early stage,” it reads.
The promise was listed among a slew of other initiatives to combat corruption, such as vetting candidates for MACC chief commissioner by a bipartisan committee, enacting a Freedom of Information Act, mandating asset declaration, and establishing an ombudsman system to “address issues of misconduct by politicians and civil servants including the enforcement authorities”.

In contrast to the manifesto’s promises, Anwar yesterday justified the existence of the provision.
He argued that when whistleblowers go to the media first, those accused of crimes will be condemned before they are investigated or allowed to explain themselves.
He was speaking to the press when asked about Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said saying on Tuesday that the government has no plans to amend the provision.
She insisted that whistleblowers should first approach enforcement agencies, which can assess if the information is essential and whether it should be classified under an older case or whether a new case should be opened.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said“When we go to an enforcement agency as a whistleblower wanting protection, the enforcement agency will provide the justification (for the protection).
ADS“This means, they (the whistleblower) cannot go to the public domain and then afterwards want protection,” she said.
‘Step by step’ amendment
Nevertheless, Azalina acknowledged that some countries allow whistleblowers to go to the press if the enforcement agency failed to act on the report within a stipulated timeframe.
“But in our country, we are not there yet. That is why, in my answer earlier about this amendment we’re doing, it’s a periodic amendment.
“(We are going) step by step,” she told the Dewan Rakyat that day.
She said the government is instead considering several other amendments to the Whistleblower Protection Act, such as changes to prevent conflict with existing laws and a reward scale to incentivise informants.
The discussion on whistleblowers came after Malaysiakini’s exposé of allegedly corrupt assemblypersons in Sabah.
The whistleblower, a businessperson, released a series of videos implicating assemblypersons supposedly in discussions about bribes to facilitate an application for a mining exploration licence.
Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor dismissed the allegations as attempts to destabilise the state government and tarnish its reputation. - Mkini

---