“Now, Parit MP Nizar Zakaria is in the committee. It has been changed because I am in too many committees,” he told FMT.

He said the names had earlier been submitted by Barisan Nasional and he was named as a stop-gap until a new MP could be appointed.

Shahidan added the Select Committee was not set up by activists but by Parliamentary Select Committee. “It was set up by us, not by activists,” he added, brushing off criticism by activists over his appointment.

Earlier, several groups had say no to the “tainted” Shahidan on the panel.

In a joint statement, StandUp Malaysia and Monsters Among Us pointed out that Shahidan has not been cleared after being charged in a child molest case in 2019. He was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.

“This committee’s duty is to protect the rights of women and children in Malaysia, and we discourage any member who has been accused of sexual offences to be a part of the committee who does not believe in the significance of the parliamentary select committee itself,” the group had said.

They also urged the committee’s chairman, Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Azalina Othman Said, to explain and justify Shahidan’s appointment.

She too said the appointment of MPs into the committees was done by the Speaker’s office based on recommendations by the respective party whips.

Others in the committee are Kota Samarahan MP Rubiah Wang (GPS), Kemaman MP Che Alias Hamid (PAS), Pasir Puteh MP Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh (PAS), Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh (PKR) and Lanang MP Alice Lau (DAP).