If PMX has unprecedented political will to lift diesel subsidy, can he also push for MACC to come under Parliament?

A JOURNEY of a thousand miles begins with one baby step.

A simple amendment requiring Parliament’s approval prior to the Prime Minister (PM) advising the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) is all it takes to place the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) which is currently under the Prime Minister’s Department under the Parliament instead.

Not only will such move enhance the independence and efficiency of the graft buster in fighting corruption but this will also ‘repair’ the misperception that MACC is a tool to the government of the day to silent the opposition, ‘old enemies’ or the PM/government critics.

Against such backdrop, the Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (MADPET) has refuted the justification by MACC’s chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki who disagreed that the anti-graft agency should be placed under Parliament’s purview because “it is already monitored by five independent oversight bodies”.

“MADPET is of the opinion that it is useless to have such monitoring or oversight bodies in name but in fact they fail to achieve their intended purpose be it by reason of wrong person/s being appointed, lack of transparency and poor monitoring by Parliament,” opined the NGO’s co-founder Charles Hector in his latest blog.

“A perusal of internet, including the MACC’s website, shows no public records of meetings, let alone decisions made or actions taken. It is absurd that these five oversight bodies report only to MACC (the entity being monitored) and the PM instead of to the Malaysian public and Parliament.”

A case in point, argued Hector, is that of Azam himself violated the Public Officers (Conduct and Discipline) Regulations 1993 and the related Service Circular Number 3/2002 (Ownership and Declaration of Assets by Public Officials) which prevents a public servant from owning more than RM100,000 worth of shares in any company.

Charles Hector

Another thorny issue could be that of PM Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim surprisingly extended Azam’s tenure for a one-year term on two occasions with the latest being on My 12 this year without consulting Parliamentarians or oblivious to the fact that there might be better candidates to fill his shoes.

“Will Azam’s term be renewed one year at a time for so long that he remains ‘loyal’ to the PM?  This compromises the independence of MACC and may propagate the perception that the MACC is just another tool of the government,” asserted Hector who is both a human rights activist and lawyer.

With these impending weaknesses, MADPET icalls for the following:

• Immediate amendments to the law, that will remove the PM or any minister’s role in the appointment of the MACC chief commissioner as well as members of the various oversight monitoring bodies. All appointments should require prior Parliamentary approval.
• Introduce security of tenure, whereby the law fixes clearly the tenure of the chief commissioner which could be retirement age or a maximum six-year term. There ought to be no extension of the term of office.
• The immediate removal of Azam Baki as MACC’s chief commissioner to restore public confidence for an independent MACC.
• Necessitating parliamentary approval, including public vetting, of every individual before they are appointed ministers and deputy ministers to ensure a clean and efficient cabinet. – Focus Malaysia