HUMAN RIGHTS COMM BILL GETS PARLIAMENT'S NOD

KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 (Bernama) -- The Human Rights Commission (Amendment)
Bill 2009 was finally passed by the Lower House of Parliament after having faced
numerous challenges, including undergoing voting twice, at the policy and
committee stages, Wednesday.

The first bloc voting was taken when Opposition members voiced objections
during the debate at the policy stage on the ground that they were no given
sufficient space to debate it comprehensively.

They then started showing their anger when Minister in the Prime Minister's
Department Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, who was winding up debate on the Bill, did
not give room for any interruptions and went on to read the text of his speech
without paying attention to their calls to seek clarification.

To ease the situation, Deputy Speaker Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar then
proposed a bloc vote be taken before continuing but it favoured the government
with 45 MPs for and 39 against.

Not satisfied, the opposition again tried to prevent the Bill from going
through at the committee stage and when a further bloc vote was taken, it was 50
against 39 this time in favour of the government and subsequently the Bills was
passed.

Mohamed Nazri, in his windup, said the Bill was in line with the Federal
Constitution and that there were no discriminatory provisions in it and that
people of impeccable integrity would be appointed as members of the commission
irrespective of gender.
--BERNAMA