Parliamentary Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang is of the view that the Special Complaints Commission (SCC) proposed in a Bill tabled in Parliament yesterday is "weak and flawed".

He said the SCC, which originated from the proposed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), will be most unacceptable if the government is serious about creating an efficient, accountable, incorruptible and professional world-class police service.

The proposed commission will consist of a chairperson to be appointed by the prime minister, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) director-general, and three others to be appointed by the prime minister.

The commission may appoint officers of ACA, Bank Negara, Securities Commission, National Audit Department, police force and other officers from the public service on secondment to the commission as task force members.

"The SCC... is a totally different creature from the IPCMC and the very negation of the independent external oversight agency for the police recommended by the Royal Police Commission," he said in a statement.

"No wonder the chairperson of the Royal Police Commission, Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah, said yesterday that he is very disappointed because the SCC is not what the commission had in mind," he said.

'Watered-down Bill'

He added another commission member Tunku Abdul Aziz,is also disappointed that the "watered-down Bill" will not achieve the purpose of creating a watchdog body.

Abdul Aziz had said the purpose of the IPCMC was not to protect the police from unfair criticism and allegations, but also to return public confidence to the agency.

Lim questioned how Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the cabinet expect 26 million Malaysians to have confidence in the proposed SCC when the leading lights of the Royal Police Commission are "totally disgusted" by the breach of faith and dilution of the draft IPCMC Bill.

Elaborating on a clause in the draft IPCMC Bill - that serving or former members of the police force should not sit on the commission - Lim said: "The whole idea of an independent mechanism is to ensure that police officers keep to the straight and narrow path of law, steering clear of abuse of power and corruption.

(This was) overturned with the proposal that the IGP should be a permanent member of the SCC. With this, how can the function of independent external oversight of the police be exercised?

"Do the prime minister and cabinet seriously suggest that the public will have confidence to complain against top police officers or even against the IGP himself (if he sits on) the commission?"