National Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Centre (GIACC) director-general Abu Kassim Mohamed told FMT that the ombudsman, which is being fine-tuned based on similar bodies in other countries, is meant to enhance integrity and governance in addressing public complaints.

“The bill to set up Ombudsman Malaysia is being examined by the Attorney-General’s Chambers and will be brought to the Cabinet for approval before it is raised in Parliament.

“I am confident the bill can be brought to Parliament, which is currently in session, and if it is passed, it can come into operation in the first quarter of next year.”

Abu Kassim said currently, there exists an overlap in responsibilities when it comes to addressing complaints made against various levels of the civil service.

This, he said, affected the time it took to resolve the complaints as well as its success rate.

He said that once the ombudsman is set up, complaints will be brought up with the related agency or ministry to be resolved under the first tier.

“After a given time, if no action is taken or the complainant is unhappy with the solutions, he or she can raise it up with the ombudsman, which will act as the second tier.”

Last year, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the Ombudsman Act would be formulated to change the function of the BPA to ensure the management of public complaints was more effective.

Abu Kassim said the ombudsman, who will head the body, will recommend disciplinary action against heads of department if their subordinates do not act on complaints.

“The ombudsman won’t take disciplinary action, but we propose that he comes up with suggestions to deal with malpractices.”

He also said that the prime minister will decide on who heads the body.

“We have yet to finalise the structure. We will put in our proposal and it will be up to the Cabinet to decide,” he said.