PUTRAJAYA: All six commissioners of Putrajaya’s Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) have been terminated, leaving the decade-old body unable to act on complaints of misconduct against enforcement agencies for the last three months, FMT has learnt.
The six – chief commissioner Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim, Leong May Chan, Lee Sow Siong, Sabariah Hassan, James Nayagam and Abang Ekhsan Abang Othman – had their three-year contract cut short last October.
“They received letters informing them that their contract ended on Sept 30, 2019,” an EAIC insider told FMT.
In one such letter sighted by FMT, no explanation was given for the termination.
Under the EAIC Act 2009, the commission is empowered to investigate and conduct hearings into complaints against enforcement agencies including the police force.
But the same source told FMT that this main task could not be carried out in the absence of commissioners, who have the power to decide on cases.
It means EAIC officers could investigate complaints, but could not take any further action.
As a result, there has been a backlog of unresolved cases as well as queries over the lack of progress on complaints against errant enforcement officers.
It is likely that the termination had to do with the eventual formation of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), which will take over EAIC’s role.
“But until that happens, it makes no sense to terminate the commissioners’ contracts,” the source said.
A bill to bring IPCMC into force was postponed twice last year, and is scheduled to be tabled again when Dewan Rakyat convenes this March, amid disagreement among members of a bipartisan parliamentary committee chaired by Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh.
EAIC has been receiving hundreds of complaints from the public. Last year alone, it received nearly 1,000 complaints.
FMT has contacted the Prime Minister’s Office for a response.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Putrajaya would set up a complaints committee to address wrongdoings by 20 enforcement agencies, apart from the police.
Mahathir said this would be implemented once IPCMC is formed to replace EAIC.