Fourth National Congress on Integrity

Federal Accountability, Local Governance

The 4th NCOI or the Fourth National Congress on Integrity will be themed, Federal Accountability, Local Governance. It will be jointly organized by NCOI (National Congress on Integrity), APPAC (All PJ Pro-Action Committee), the SUN and other willing private sector partners.

Date: 3rd February 2007
Venue: UCSI, Main Campus, Cheras, KL
Time: 9 am - 1 pm (with Lunch)

The Core Issue of deliberation is quality of Representative Governance
The recent case of Datuk Zakaria Mat Deros, the disrespectful Local Councilor provides the central framework to review and reexamine the core issues related to Local Governance in Malaysia.

An NST Article by Roger Tan provides as good a framework as any to begin the discussion of issues. The core issue framed by Roger Tan, a lawyer by profession, is, “why do these two councilors have such scant regard for the laws which they are entrusted to enforce?” Roger Tan concluded with the following paragraph, “Perhaps, as a start, Section 10(2) of the Local Government Act can be amended to require the state authority to consult either the minister or the National Council for Local Government in the appointment and reappointment of local councilors.” The organizers of the 4th NCOI agree that the core issue is the “quality of representative local governance” which will help define good governance at the level of Local Authority. Premised on this thesis, we propose the theme of the 4th NCOI as Federal Accountability, Local Governance.

Modus Operandi of the Roundtable Dialogue
Two Keynote Speakers will help set the stage for this Roundtable Dialogue. They are YB Dato Shahrir Abdul Samad, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and a leading Constitutional Lawyer, Dato Dr Cyrus Das. They will both be given 20 minutes each to make the formal presentation. After some question and answers, four selected interveners will be given 10 minutes each to make their comments and raise issues not already raised by them.

Following this the plenary session and a short break, Roundtables of 6-8 persons will discuss the core issue from their perspectives. All tables and participants will have the opportunity to partake of the discussion and resolutions. Selected problem statements and resolutions will then be presented for a final commentary by the 7 invited speakers for the final Roundup and the Dialogue will be formally closed.

The Organizing Committee hopes to table the views of the Roundtable will be tabled to the Parliamentary Special Committee on Integrity.


The views of the Roundtable will be tabled as citizen’s views to the Parliamentary Committee on Integrity.

Keynote Speakers

YB Dato Shahrir Abdul Samad, Chairman Public Accounts Committee
YBhg Dato Dr Cyrus Das, Former President of the Malaysian Bar Council
Moderator: YB Dato Dr Tan Kee Kwong, Member of Parliament for Segambut
Commentators: Citizen R Nadeswaran of the SUN Newspaper
Prof Shad Saleem Faruqi, Constitutional Law Professor, UiTM
Mr Edward Lee, Protem Chairman of PJ Action
Andrew Khoo, Legal Advisor of the Anglican Bishop of West Malaysia

Contact
For any other information, please call 03-78773701 or email admin@ohmsi.net

Application
Registration fee: RM30 per person to be paid on admission which includes lunch
Group registrations of ten are at RM 250 per group with pre-registrations.
Walk-in registrations at RM 40 per person.

For those registering as a group of 10, please register and make checks payments to:
"Graduates Christian Fellowship, P.O. Box 8320, 46789, Kelana Jaya, Selangor"
Pre-registration is STRONGLY encouraged to allow the organizers to plan for food and seating.