Proposed Code of Ethics to cover more than MPs

KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 (New Sabah Times) -- The proposed code of ethics to prevent politicking on the premise of racial issues is to cover all politicians at all times and not just elected representatives during debates in legislative assemblies or during elections.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili said yesterday the code, which would also cover opposition elected representatives, would be made a way of life.

As such, political parties were encouraged to advise their members not to use racial issues as the premise for politicking or in any campaign or “ceramah” (talk), he told reporters after opening a seminar on “50 Years of Independence and the New Generation”, here.

Ongkili said the proposed code was still under discussion and that it would be refined at a meeting in the first week of August and, hopefully, implemented before Parliament is adjourned.

He said the code was not intended to gag politicians or check the effectiveness of any political party but was aimed at instilling responsibility in political parties and politicians.

Parliament had approved the setting up of the Committee on Ethics in December last year.

The two-day seminar on the theme “Appreciation of and the Future of Relations in a Multi-Ethnic Society in Malaysia” has drawn about 350 participants and 50 observers including Toh Puan Uma Sambanthan, widow of a former MIC president and labour minister Tun V.T. Sambanthan.

The panellists include professor of Malaysian history at Universiti Malaya Datuk Khoo Kay Kim, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Liow Tiong Lai and Chairman of the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Board Datuk Johan Jaafar.