Let’s see you net sharks and whales, MACC told

C4 commends the agency for its successes, but laments that it has not gone after the BN elite.

Cynthia says she is concerned over the commission’s lack of independence.

PETALING JAYA: An anti-graft activist has commended the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for its work over the past year but says it needs to do better by going after the big fish.

Cynthia Gabriel, who heads the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism, said it was “incredibly difficult to imagine” the MACC taking on people at the top of the Barisan Nasional hierarchy because it is funded by the government and reports to the Prime Minister.

Reviewing Dzulkifli Ahmad’s one-year tenure as MACC chief, she noted that he had chalked up 30 cases of arrest of public officials but said these were small fry.

“We commend the MACC for this proactive drive,” she said, “but we urge it to go after the sharks and whales at the highest echelons of power.”

Commenting on Dzulkifli’s remark that he was proud to have survived his first year, she said he survived because he did not go after any member of the federal cabinet or any top administration official of a BN-ruled state.

She told FMT her group remained concerned over the commission’s lack of independence.

“C4, together with the Bar Council, has drafted serious policy reforms that will require legal amendments to improve MACC’s independence,” she said. “None has been accepted yet.”

She said MACC needed to be a constitutional commission so that it could carry out its duties without fear or favour.

Public confidence in the anti-graft body is in fact at an all-time low, says PKR’s Nurul Izzah.

PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, who has been critical of Dzulkifli’s appointment, also noted that MACC had not gone after the BN elite. Meanwhile, she said, it had been routinely threatening opposition politicians and targeting them with frivolous charges.

She said the Malaysian public would not be fooled by these “smokescreen distractions” to protect those pilfering public funds.

Commenting on Dzulkifli’s claim that the MACC had the public’s support, she said public confidence in the anti-graft body was in fact at an all-time low.

“Malaysians know that any poll showing otherwise is grossly manipulated,” she said.

Before becoming MACC chief, Dzulkifli was head of the National Revenue Recovery Enforcement Team in the Attorney-General’s Chambers. He took over from Abu Kassim Mohamed last year. - FMT