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STOCKHOLM, Aug 22: Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg believes that Sweden’s ombudsman system is the model of best practice that the State’s own ombudsman law should emulate.
According to a report by Sarawak Public Communications Unit (Ukas), Abang Johari said Sweden’s ombudsman system is among the oldest in the world and was first introduced in 1809, making it the best reference point.
“Therefore, I believe the Sarawak government is not making a wrong choice if we are following the best practices such as Swedish ombudsman,” he said after leading a Sarawak entourage at a briefing with Swedish Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman Erik Nymansson; and Senior Legal Advisor and International Coordinating Director in the Parliamentary Ombudsman, Charlotte De Geer Fällman at the office of Parliamentary Ombudsman (JO) of Sweden here yesterday.
Abang Johari said however, Sarawak’s ombudsman law will have certain modifications to meet the needs of local culture and customs, in line with the State’s aspiration to become a developed State with high income by 2030.
At the same time, Abang Johari said the benchmarking visit to Sweden aimed to basically study, understand and benchmark Sweden’s administrative structure and governance of ombudsman.
The visit also allows the Sarawak entourage to get legal and procedural input for Sarawak Ombudsman Ordinance apart from learning how such a system can play its role effectively.
The Sarawak delegation includes Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, who is Minister for International Trade and Investment Sarawak; Malaysian Ambassador to Sweden, Hafizah Abdullah; Sarawak Secretary Datuk Amar Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki; Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Department (Integrity and Ombudsman) Dato Murshid Diraja Dr Juanda Jaya; Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Department (Law, MA63 and State-Federal Relations) Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali; Sarawak Federal Secretary Ahmad Nazri Mohd Hassan; Sarawak Attorney General Dato Sri Talat Mahmood Abdul Rashid; Sarawak Financial Secretary Dato Sri Dr Wan Lizozman Wan Omar; Deputy Sarawak Attorney General Datu Saferi Ali; and Sarawak Integrity and Ombudsman Unit director Semawi Mohamad. — DayakDaily
