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 Last year, there was much fanfare when Abdullah Badawi in his capacity as Prime Minister presented the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act in Parliament. The act effective Jan 1, 2009 was to replace the Anti-Corruption Act of 1997 as the old act was ineffective in fighting corruption.
Abdullah claimed that the MACC Act was modelled after Hong Kong’s Independent Commission of Anti-Corruption Act which was highly effective in fighting corruption in Hong Kong. A new chapter was to begin in Malaysia, and corruption would soon be under control in the country. When Najib Razak became Prime Minister, he announced new reforms starting with his concept of 1Malaysia – People First, Performance Now. He also promised he would fight corruption because his government would be clean, competitive and transparent. However, the track record of MACC since its launch in January has been deplorable. Right from the beginning it showed that it was not an independent body when it embarked on selective targetting of the opposition. The MACC studiously avoided high profile targets like corrupt Barisan leaders, and chose instead to hunt down the opposition. Ex-Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo who owned a RM24 million massive bungalow was treated with kid gloves, while MACC spent much energy and time to investigate a small RM2,000 alleged problem against a political aide of a DAP exco member Teoh Beng Hock. Teoh was subjected to intensive interrogation while in the premises of MACC until he died under very suspicious circumstances. There are strong clues and evidence that Teoh was killed and his body thrown out a 14-storey window. The Auditor General Report 2008 revealed leakages of government funds amounting to over RM200 billion, and which provoked Najib to announce that a task force would be set up to study the findings of the AG’s report. The RM12.5 billion loss through the Port Klang Free Zone scandal is another shocking case of corruption. Billions of ringgits were lost in so many high profile cases yet the MACC chose to home in on an allegedly RM2,000 irregularity for which Teoh was interrogated. This example of selective targetting by MACC in Selangor recalls the tactic which was used by the Najib administration to destabilise the Pakatan Rakyat Perak state government. In truth, corruption in the country has worsened since the formation of MACC. Transparency International Malaysia revealed that Malaysia’s ranking in the corruption perception index has slipped to 56th position from 47th last year, out of 190 countries surveyed. This has happened despite the promises of transparency by Najib! The high profile corruption cases of PKFZ, ex-MB Toyo’s RM24 million bungalow, the Teoh Beng Hock murder scandal, the billions leakage shown by 2008 auditor general report, and RM60 billion leakages in Sarawak tell the story of the tremendous scale of corruption in the country. The time has come to re-organise the MACC to ensure that it is independent. The chief objective is to have an independent anti-corruption agency. MACC as it is, has become a tool of the Barisan government, and is used not to fight corruption but to undermine the opposition, and to destabilise PR state governments. This must stop.
It should instead target the corrupt, irrespective of rank or standing and be they ministers, judges or high government officials. Therefore the main problem is that MACC in its present structure is not independent. Unfortunately, the MACC Act stipulates that the commission is accountable to the Prime Minister, which obviously removes the essential requirement of independence, as the Prime Minister is a political figure and is not neutral. The MACC Act has to be restructured to ensure that it is headed by a neutral commission chief. The act should be amended to say that the MACC is responsible to a neutral entity – the king or parliament. Media statement by DAP adviser (Dec 7, 2009)
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Dr Chen
I strongly think that the best is for MACC to report to Parliment. Not only that, the appointment of the head I think should also be approved by the Parliment before recommended to Agong for confirmation. Even before recommending to Parliment, there must be a system whereby a panel of former Judges/NGO/Opposition parties set up to recommend names to PM for submission to Parliment. If the Government is serious about reform they should do the same for EC and appointment of Federal court judges