PETALING JAYA: Law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has completely ignored the pertinent question of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Azam Baki allowing his brother to use his share trading account when defending him, says DAP’s P Ramasamy.
Describing the minister’s statement in justifying Azam’s share purchase in 2016 as one of “blind defence”, the Penang deputy chief minister said the question on everyone’s mind now was how a top official of an agency, no less than the MACC, allowed this to happen.
“Azam not only traded in shares but, according to his testimony, bought them at the behest of his brother. Furthermore, he hid the information from the agency.
“Rather than blindly support, Wan Junaidi should ask Azam why he allowed his brother to use his name to buy the shares,” he said in a statement today.
He was responding to Wan Junaidi’s statement yesterday that there were no laws preventing government servants from acquiring shares in public-listed companies.
Azam is currently under investigation for allowing his brother, Nasir Baki, to use his trading account to purchase corporate shares.
Ramasamy said Wan Junaidi’s defence of Azam failed to uphold the highest standards of law expected from a minister holding such a portfolio.
“I am afraid to say that Wan Junaidi is not the kind of law minister we want in the country.
“It is not about civil servants acquiring shares or trading in the share market but it is about the integrity of the civil servants here,” he said.
Ramasamy said it was important for Wan Junaidi to interpret the law by reading it together with the general orders stipulated by the public service department.
“Wan Junaidi, in making a legal case for public officials to engage in the share market, forgot for the moment that he was dealing with Azam, the top official of Malaysia’s corruption-busting agency, the MACC,” said Ramasamy.
He called on the government to establish an investigation panel to look into the allegations against Azam from all angles and not rely solely on the investigation by the Securities Commission (SC).
“Such a panel could even be the forerunner of a royal commission of inquiry at a later point in time.
“Corruption and other forms of financial misdeeds are becoming rife in government departments and public agencies.
“They have become a terrible curse on the future well-being of the country,” he said. - FMT
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