Group to vet how Govt makes policies

Datuk Saifuddin, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh(Asli), Denison (KITA-UKM) & Jerald (KOMAS)

BY NURBAITI HAMDAN (STAR)

KUALA LUMPUR: The Govern­ment’s policy-making process is one of the key points that will be scrutinised in a people’s document on the future direction of the country by the Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) and the Youth Academy.

GMM chief executive officer Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said policy-making was one of the issues raised in a roundtable discussion during a consultation process to draft the document, dubbed as “The Future of Malaysia”.

“Before you start a new policy, you have to revisit the old policy. Look at the United Nations, their policies are very comprehensive,” he said.

The one-year project is expected to be presented to the Government this September. The document will be shaped as the continuation of Vision 2020.

The document will also include analysis by the group on past reports and action plans to evaluate if their recommendations had come to fruition.

Some of the documents that have been identified are the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report on illegal immigrants in Sabah as well as the one on the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock.

“There are many reports that have been released in the past but if we could look into these from the past five years, that would be good enough,” he said after the roundtable here yesterday.

Despite the massive time, efforts and manpower invested into the reports, Saifuddin said some of their recommendations were not looked into.

“I am sure the rakyat would be appreciative to know the follow-up to these reports. Hence, we need to revisit the documents,” he said.

Other emerging issues that would be discussed in the document include education, economics, the Federal Constitution, Rukun Negara, politics, social contract, race and religion, and foreign policy.

The objective of the document is to serve as input from the people to be taken into account in the formulation of nation-building policies and programmes – similar to the United States’ “Future of America” or Australia’s “Intergenerational Report”.

Both reports are similar as they focused on future trends that would impact policy-making by their governments.

Jenny (GMM), Dr Anis (KITA-UKM) & Gan Ping Sieu (Cenbet)

Yesterday’s roundtable discussion was also attended by representatives from civil society groups such as the Association for the Promotion of Human Rights (Proham) and Centre For A Better Tomorrow (Cenbet).

Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2015/03/12/Group-to-vet-how-Govt-makes-policies-Scrutiny-a-key-point-in-The-Future-of-Malaysia-document/