LAST week, academician Edmund Terence Gomez resigned from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) panel after both the panel and its advisory body dragged their feet on investigating allegations that the anti-graft body head Tan Sri Azam Baki and his family held shares in private companies.
It was claimed that the amount of shares owned was way beyond the threshold allowed under the Public Officers (Conduct and Discipline) Regulations 1993.
Many non-governmental organisations (NGO) and Opposition leaders have decried the matter and urged the Government to act on the claims. In fact, former MACC advisory body chairperson Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim had even called for a for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to be established.
Even leaders from MCA and UMNO have spoken out about it, with the latter’s supreme council member Datuk Puad Zarkashi saying that silence was not an option for the Government.
Unsurprisingly though, both Azam and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob have kept mum on the allegations until today.
So, what can be done in the situation, when both the accused and the prime minister themselves are trying to shy away from addressing the matter, hoping the people would forget about it and move on?
This is where the writer believes that Pakatan Harapan leaders should exert pressure on Ismail Sabri to act on the case using the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed several months back.
Honestly speaking, the writer feels it is quite nauseating that veteran Opposition leaders such as Lim Kit Siang keeps harping on the matter using their blogs and press statements. While such methods do work, the question is, why not use the MoU to pressure the prime minister to act when it is more potent?
The allegation levelled by Gomez against Azam is very serious. We have the head of an anti-graft agency accused of being in a compromised situation, where conflict of interest may take place.
Serious matter requires touch action
The thing here is, the MACC’s image was already in question following the untimely demise of political aide, Teoh Beng Hock in July 2009.
If one remembers, the Government then had attempted to divert public attention from the matter using various reasons, including playing the race card, to silence the matter.
But the then Pakatan Rakyat coalition had managed to pressure the Government to establish a RCI to probe Teoh’s death and it was found that the latter leaped to his death following “inquisition level” interrogation techniques used by MACC officers.
Coming back to Azam’s case, if Pakatan leaders could exert that much influence then to pressure the Government, why can’t they do such a thing now given that Ismail Sabri is basically hanging on to power with the Opposition’s support?
From the Government’s silence, it is pretty obvious that they are not keen to act on it. So, it is now up to Pakatan to use the MoU as a leverage and get Ismail Sabri to either establish a RCI to investigate Azam or get the Public Service Department to act on it, with the former being preferred.
So what say you, Pakatan? Do you have the courage to exert your influence on a matter of public interest or are you worried that you may lose the allocations given to your MPs and state assemblypersons?
And Pakatan leaders should be reminded of the drubbing it received in the recently concluded Sarawak and Melaka state polls.
It is time for them to show voters that they will put their money where their mouth is when it comes to being serious about institutional reforms. – Jan 3, 2022
Pic credit: The Edge Markets
