From Hafiz Hassan
Two doctors’ groups have clashed over the Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill 2022, otherwise known as the Generational End Game (GEG) bill, with one calling for caution over the proposed law and the other urging Putrajaya to press on with it.
Meanwhile, Bakri MP Yeo Bee Yin has questioned why MPs have been given just days to debate the bill.
Comparing the bill to a similar initiative in New Zealand, Yeo said MPs there had been given four months to debate proposed amendments to their law, while those in Malaysia were expected to decide in less than a week.
Both the parliamentary select committee (PSC) for health, science and innovation, and the PSC on women, and children affairs and social development have also raised issues of concern and provided recommendations.
As such, health minister Khairy Jamaluddin should seriously consider referring the bill to a PSC to consider the bill just like the Constitution (Amendment)(No.3) 2022 Bill.
It will be a step in the right direction.
Let’s appreciate, again, the reference to the PSC. It will allow the bill to be scrutinised.
It will also enable the details of the bill to be discussed in a less formal manner but in a definite order, where each and every clause (in the order in which they appear), and schedules and preamble (if any) will be reviewed.
The PSC will have the power delegated by the Dewan Rakyat to, among others:
- send for persons, papers and records – this is the key evidence-gathering power and includes the power to call witnesses; and,
- appoint specialist advisers.
The most important power is the first, that is, to send for persons, papers and records. This will allow the PSC to draw on academic research and evidence in the field.
The PSC can hear views from a wide cross-section of public and expert evidence and witnesses when conducting its inquiries on the bill.
It may even employ academic or industry experts to act as special advisers for the duration of the inquiry.
Evidence submitted, either in writing or in person, may therefore contribute to changes to the bill.
Scrutiny will iron out the flaws in the bill.
So, let’s emulate the success of the Constitution (Amendment)(No.3) Act 2022 Bill, which was referred to the PSC and passed by all of the 209 MPs present in the Dewan Rakyat on July 28.
Hafiz Hassan is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.