Parties need to act swiftly against members who transgress, says Anwar

KIMANIS POLLS | A political party needs to take swift action against any member who commits an offence, said PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.

The party should not give the impression that it was not serious when faced with corruption and crime issues.

He was commenting on the recent detention of party leaders, including Dengkil assemblyperson Adhif Syan Abdullah, for allegedly using drugs.

"We should take swift action to suspend (the member) if the arrest is confirmed and the (drug) test was carried out by the police," he told the media after speaking at a ceramah in Kimanis.

"There should be no tolerance of criminal offence. The party usually allows the disciplinary board to make a swift decision," he said.

"There should not be any impression that the political party or leader is not serious about facing corruption and crime."

Police arrested 17 people, including six women, in a raid at a condominium in Jalan Puchong in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

The police, however, declined to identify those nabbed pending results of a second drug test.

Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who is also Bersatu Youth chief, has suspended a ministry official following the arrest.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said whoever breaks the law should go to jail.

Meanwhile, Anwar frowned at an alleged conspiracy to tarnish the integrity of MACC chief Latheefa Koya following her disclosure of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s phone conversations.

"I am not aware of the details but I am following (the news)," Anwar said.

"It shouldn't be the case, it shouldn't tarnish a person's personality or personal life or whatsoever." 

On Jan 8, the MACC had released audio recordings of several telephone conversations from 2016 - linked to the 1MDB scandal - between Najib and several other individuals, including his wife, Rosmah Mansor.

Disagreeing with such move, Anwar said due process must be respected even in light of arguments that the audio recordings revealed by the MACC could be used as evidence in Najib's ongoing trial.

Yesterday, Latheefa said a criminal conspiracy has been set in motion against her following the disclosure of the recordings.

Her officer has lodged a police report today. - Mkini