Set up oversight body to scrutinise MACC - Nurul Izzah

 

PKR deputy president Nurul Izzah Anwar has urged the government to form an independent oversight committee, tasked with scrutinising the MACC’s enforcement actions, that reports directly to Parliament.

In a commentary published by The Star today, she pointed out that the issues facing MACC are systemic, where a vast concentration of investigative, prosecutorial, and financial powers is within a single institution under the MACC Act.

Nurul Izzah said that the issue is compounded by limited and largely ineffective external oversight on MACC.

“PKR has raised this concern consistently since the early 2000s. When such powers are left unchecked, the risk of abuse is not hypothetical - it is inevitable.

“When there is no one watching the watchmen, accountability erodes,” the former MP added.

In May last year, Nurul Izzah expressed her disagreement with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s decision to extend MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki’s contract for the third time.

She even vowed to confront her father on the matter.

MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki

Azam has been a controversial MACC chief. Among the criticisms against him is the commission’s perceived foot-dragging in investigating the Sabah corruption scandal, in which multiple assemblypersons and state government leaders were implicated.

In November last year, businessperson Albert Tei’s spouse, Lee Pei Rie, lodged a police report claiming that MACC officers had pointed guns at both of them during a raid on their house.

While Azam had denied the allegations, MACC has yet to make public the CCTV recordings confiscated from Tei’s home.

Tei was instrumental in exposing corruption allegations linked to the approval of mineral prospecting licences involving Sabah politicians.

Albert Tei

MACC must be held to ‘highest standards’

Elaborating on her proposal, Nurul Izzah said the oversight committee must be empowered to review MACC’s enforcement actions.

This includes scrutinising decisions on asset freezes, auditing financial flows, and ensuring that anti-corruption efforts are guided by evidence and due process instead of unfettered discretion.

While a fearless and independent anti-graft body is important, Nurul Izzah stressed that the commission cannot simply brush off questions regarding how it conducts itself during investigations.

She said that institutions that wield immense authority must be held to the highest standards to ensure their actions command public trust and withstand scrutiny.

“And questioning how power is exercised is not an attack on enforcement institutions. On the contrary, it is a defence of their legitimacy.”

On freezing assets, Nurul Izzah pointed out that, in the past, assets belonging to prominent individuals were seized without proper explanation, only for the decision to be reversed later.

“If there was insufficient substance to sustain the case, why were such drastic measures taken in the first place? Due process is not a privilege of wealth or influence - it is the foundation of justice itself.

“Without it, the same unchecked powers used today against the powerful can tomorrow be turned against ordinary citizens with far fewer means to defend themselves,” she added.

In a reminder to Putrajaya, Nurul Izzah said the people are now looking for evidence-based investigations coupled with sustainable prosecutions, with stolen wealth fully returned to the nation’s coffers.

“Only then can we assure the rakyat that justice is pursued without fear or favour, that corruption is punished fully, and that no one, including those entrusted with enforcement, stands above scrutiny.” - Mkini