The government has rejected the enactment of both the Whistleblower Protection Act and Freedom of Information Act although it vows to continue to fight against corruption, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
"We have no plan to enact any of these acts because although we have the Official Secrets Act, the cabinet can decide on anything that need to be declassified at anytime," Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz said today.
He was replying to Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud (PAS-Kota Raja) during the question session this morning.
The minister said the government will continue to fight against graft, which has been included in the BN's last two election manifestos but "it was impossible to be done in a short time for such a big thing like fighting against corruption".
This is an apparent about-turn by the government, which had earlier claimed that it was drafting a bill to protect whistleblowers.
Nazri had himself said last November that the first draft of the bill - which he called the Witness Protection Act - has been circulated to government agencies and ministries for feedback.
Last month, in the wake of the ruling BN coalition's unprecendented polls setback, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had promised to pass new laws to protect whistleblowers and witnesses.
Courtesy: Malaysiakini
