No evidence asset declaration a safety risk for politicians - speaker

No concrete evidence shows that asset declaration will increase the risk to the safety of Members of Parliament, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof said last night.

Responding to Edmund Santhara's worry about his family members and his own safety, Ariff stressed that asset declaration is an essential practice to hold politicians accountable.

"With all due respect YB Santhara (PKR, Segamat), there is no concrete evidence, no matter here in Malaysia or anywhere else.

"That is about transparency and keeping away from corruption. If you see someone who is earning a certain amount of ringgit, but suddenly becomes very, very rich when he is an MP, there must be justification for it."

Mohamad Ariff was speaking to reporters at the ‘Dinner with Chairpersons of the Parliamentary Special Select Committees and Media: Reform and The Way Forward for the Parliament of Malaysia 2020’ at the Parliament Complex last night.

He said MACC does not publish every detail of assets declared by the MPs, but just the total amount.

During an interview with Malaysiakini two days ago, Santhara attributed his safety concern to the asset declaration practice pushed by the Pakatan Harapan. He was labelled the richest MP, with assets totalling RM132.83 million as of March.

Despite these difficulties and harassment, Santhara insisted that the asset declaration practice must continue, but with some modification.

He suggested that the lawmakers continue to declare all their assets to the government and MACC, but only part of the information - the incremental asset from the day they are elected - should be made public. - Mkini