Anwar brushes off calls for Azam’s sacking

 Prime minister credits Azam Baki with carrying out his responsibilities well as MACC chief commissioner.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said there is no basis to remove Azam Baki as MACC chief commissioner.

PETALING JAYA:

 Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has brushed aside calls for the government to remove Azam Baki as Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief.

Anwar said there was no basis to remove Azam, whom he credited with carrying out his responsibilities well as MACC chief commissioner.

“If someone is doing their job, why sack them? Read his explanation (on the report about his purported shareholdings),” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia’s Chinese New Year celebration tonight.

Anwar said the criticism levelled at Azam was unhealthy, and urged all quarters to look at the MACC chief’s explanation on the matter before passing judgment.

He said decisions should not be made without hearing out the relevant parties and considering the facts.

There have been calls from PKR MPs like Rafizi Ramli and Hassan Karim, among others, for Azam to resign or for the government to suspend or sack him from the post.

This followed a Bloomberg report alleging that Azam held 17.7 million shares in Velocity Capital Bhd, or 1.7%, based on the company’s annual return lodged on Feb 3 last year.

It was reported that Azam’s name still appeared on the company’s register of shareholders at the Companies Commission of Malaysia.

This is said to be in breach of a 2024 government circular which states that civil servants may hold shares in Malaysian-incorporated companies only if the holdings do not exceed 5% of the paid-up capital or RM100,000 in value, whichever is lower.

However, deputy law and institutional reform minister M Kulasegaran said yesterday that civil servants could file an application to the chief secretary to the government to be exempted from the 2024 circular.

Earlier today, Azam said he will send Bloomberg a letter of demand over the article, claiming that the report was malicious and had tarnished his and MACC’s reputation.

The MACC chief said he had proactively declared his shareholdings to the public services department in July 2025, and that they were disposed of within the year. - FMT