The revised Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill 2023 was tabled for its first reading at Dewan Rakyat today, without the generational end-game (GEG) component.
The revised bill was tabled by Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa, who said that the second reading of the bill will be tabled tomorrow (Nov 29).
“GEG” was notably absent from the revised bill, which initially sought to prohibit individuals born from 2007 onwards from smoking or purchasing smoking products, according to reports.
The bill was tabled for first reading the first time on June 12 before being referred to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health.
The revised bill will be replacing the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill 2022 that was tabled for the first reading on July 22 last year by the then Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
Zaliha had also reportedly retracted the original version of the bill.
On Nov 16, Khairy had said the the suspension of the bill he tabled, commonly referred to as the generational endgame (GEG) bill, was due to political pressure rather than legal concerns about its constitutionality.
Khairy, in Keluar Sekejap podcast, had questioned why the current bill, which closely resembled the one he had previously introduced, was suddenly considered unconstitutional by Attorney-General Datuk Ahmad Terrirudin Salleh, despite previous legal opinions suggesting otherwise.
