The state of Selangor in Malaysia has taken a further step toward adopting a Freedom of Information law.
The House has approved the bill on first reading.
The process to final passage is a long one, however. Second passage also is expected this summer, which would set up a public consultation period including research and study by a select committee.
After the select committee tables its findings and recommendations, the bill would be given a third reading by the House, likely in April 2011.
Some feel the proposal is too weak.
Malaysian Bar Council Vice-President Lim Chee Wee said the council applauded the move by the state government and described the bill as a ground-breaking piece of draft legislation. But Lim also said that the bill is too protective of the state government, according to an article by Giam Say Khoon in The Sun Daily.
“We therefore welcome the year-long public consultative process that the state government will embark on, including the establishment of a select committee comprising cross-party representatives from amongst the state assemblymen, which will enable feedback to be gathered on the Bill,” he said in the article.
Lim said the council encouraged the federal government as well as other state governments to follow the Selangor’s lead in widening access by the public to officially-held information., according to the article.
Additional criticism comes from Gayathry Venkiteswaran, who heads FOI task force of the Coalition for Good Governance, according to an article in The Star.
She said an application for information could be rejected at the discretion of the person in charge of the information, according to the article, and that there was no other venue for recourse other than a three-member Board of Appeal where the chairman is not bound to the opinions of the other two members. His decision is also final and can not be challenged in court.
Gayathry suggested that a commission be substituted for the Board of Appeal, with members selected in an open and transparent manner, according to the article.
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