(Petaling Jaya, Tuesday): Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, has agreed that the cyberbills would be debated later in the current Parliamentary meeting to allow MPs more time to study them.
Under the Parliamentary Order Paper, the two cyberbills, the Digital Signature Bill and the Computer Crimes Bill, are to be the first two bills to be debated on April 9, immediately after the conclusion of the debate on the motion of thanks on the Royal Address.
I had requested Anwar Ibrahim to allow other bills to be debated first so that MPs could be given more time to study the cyberbills and to allow for greater public interaction and participation in the formulaton of the cyberbills, both because of the newness and complexity of the issues involved. Anwar had been very sympathetic to the proposal and had immediately given his agreement when I spoke to him in Parliament yesterday.
This will also give time for a cyberbill forum to be organised to allow for public feedback and inputs into the first batch of cyberbills to be presented to Parliament.
The Deputy Prime Minister is also supportive of the idea that such a cyberbill forum be organised involving MPs from all political parties.
This means that the proposed DAP cyberbill forum mooted at the DAP “IT For All” Conference at the Federal Hotel, Kuala Lumpur on March 23 involving lawyers, computer enthusiasts and interested members of the public tentatively fixed for April 6 would now be replaced by another cyberbill forum probably on the following Sunday on April 13.
There have been a lot of public interests on the cyberbills and those who have already indicated their interest to participate in the cyberbill forum as proposed at the DAP “IT For All” Conference should await further announcements in the next few days.
(1/4/97)