Kit Siang: PM should sack MACC chief if uncooperative with PSC probe

 

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang has called for MACC chief Azam Baki to be axed if the latter doesn't testify before the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) for Agencies under the Prime Minister's Department.

This was amid the MACC and Azam's continued silence over allegations of an alleged conflict of interest when the latter held shares in excess of what is allowed for public servants.

"(If he doesn't testify) the prime minister should terminate Azam’s appointment," Lim said in a statement today.

He also called on the graft buster chief to explain why he is "afraid" to meet the PSC.

Lim yesterday called for Azam to resign if he didn't cooperate with a PSC probe.

The PSC for Agencies is headed by Abdul Latiff Abdul Rahman (PAS-Kuala Krai). He has not indicated if his committee would probe Azam (above).

So far, two PSC for Agencies members - Khoo Poay Tiong (Harapan-Kota Melaka) and Chan Foong Hin (Harapan-Kota Kinabalu) - have publicly requested for such a hearing.

The MACC chief is alleged to have owned somewhere between 1.9 million to 2.9 million shares in a public listed company in 2016, as well as 2.15 million warrants in another company,

At the material time, Azam was the MACC investigations division director.

The matter surfaced recently when Sungai Buloh MP Sivarasa Rasiah raised the allegations in Parliament.

This was followed by the resignation of MACC's Consultation and Corruption Prevention Panel member Edmund Terence Gomez over the panel's alleged reluctance to discuss the allegations.

The MACC is expected to hold a tell-all press conference on the matter tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Lim also called for the prime minister to place the MACC under Parliament instead of the executive.

"Time is long overdue to transfer the MACC out of the agencies under the Prime Minister’s Department to be directly responsible to Parliament.

"This is a major step towards restoring public trust and confidence in the MACC as a meaningful instrument to fight corruption.

"With this transfer, there can be a Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Corruption and Abuses of Power to oversee the work of the MACC," he said. - Mkini