PETALING JAYA: Amanah vice-president Mahfuz Omar has urged civil servants to “clean up” the corruption that lies within the public sector in the next general election (GE15).
Speaking at a “Tolak BN PN” roadshow event organised by the party in Selayang last night, Mahfuz said the “disease” of corruption had not only infected politicians but had also spread to the public sector.
Citing former Treasury secretary-general Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah’s testimony in Najib Razak’s SRC International trial, Mahfuz said the former prime minister had ordered a RM2 billion loan to the former 1MDB subsidiary to be expedited.
He added that such acts of collusion between politicians and civil servants would lead to the nation’s demise.
“And if that case had not gone to court, no one would have said a word. This is why I call on civil servants to save their dignity in GE15, by helping to clean up the corruption in the public sector,” Mahfuz said.
Another speaker, PKR’s Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil addressed sentiments that the fines laid on Najib and Rosmah Mansor, in their respective convictions, were too large.
However, he said it was done according to the law, as enshrined under Section 24 of the MACC Act.
He added that the enactment that facilitated Rosmah’s RM970 million fine was put in place by the then Barisan Nasional (BN) administration in the Dewan Rakyat on Dec 16, 2008.
“At that time, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was prime minister and Najib was the deputy prime minister,” Fahmi said, adding that the bill was tabled by former law minister Nazri Aziz.
He explained that under Section 24 of the MACC Act, an individual found guilty of bribery would be sentenced to a jail term not exceeding 20 years, and a fine of not less than five times the amount of the bribe as stated in the charge made against the accused.
“So we have to offer our thanks to Pak Lah, Najib and Nazri because they are the ones that enacted this law. In doing so, they prevented judges from fining Najib and Rosmah any less than the sums they were fined,” Fahmi said.
On Aug 23, the Federal Court upheld the High Court’s conviction of Najib and the sentence that was imposed of 12 years jail and RM210 million fine over criminal breach of trust (CBT) and money laundering involving RM42 million of funds belonging to SRC International.
On Thursday, Rosmah was jailed 10 years and fined RM970 million after being found guilty of soliciting RM187.5 million and receiving a total of RM6.5 million in bribes over the RM1.25 billion Sarawak rural schools’ solar energy project. - FMT
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