Activist calls for asset declaration to Parliament, not MACC

 

Edmund Terence Gomez says ministers and MPs must be compelled to declare their assets to a parliamentary body instead of to MACC.

PETALING JAYA: An anti-corruption activist has urged the government to ensure that asset declarations by ministers and MPs are scrutinised by a parliamentary body instead of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Edmund Terence Gomez , who resigned from the MACC’s Consultation and Corruption Prevention Panel last year, said all MPs and ministers must be compelled to declare their assets to the body.

For the declarations to be meaningful, he told FMT, Parliament must first be given greater independence from the executive branch of government.

This could be done by bringing back the Parliamentary Services Act of 1963, which was repealed in 1992. It gave Parliament the autonomy to draw up its own policies and to be financially independent of the executive.

“Parliament should be more independent and there should be a body within it to register assets,” he said.

“The public should be able to review these asset declarations whenever they wish and the documents should be updated every six months.”

Yesterday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim spoke of the need to make ministers’ asset declarations more transparent to keep these from being a “political gimmick”.

He said he was in discussion with MACC and other agencies on making the asset declaration process for ministers more transparent.

Gomez said he was surprised that Anwar would consider placing the asset declarations under MACC’s purview when its chief commissioner, Azam Baki, was once accused of owning extensive corporate stock without declaring it.

“It seems odd when we have a chief commissioner who has allegations of non-declaration of assets to now be responsible for ensuring that MPs declare their assets,” he said. “We cannot have a system in which MACC is in charge of this.”

Azam said last year the allegations were aimed at creating a negative perception of him.

Gomez also said asset declarations should be required not only from MPs, ministers and deputy ministers but also their immediate family members.

He said the prime minister should be duty bound to sack Cabinet members who fail to declare their assets.

Another activist, the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism’s acting CEO Pushpan Murugiah, said those who failed to declare their assets should be fined.

“The penalty or fine should be significant so that MPs will not just pay the fine and then refuse to declare their assets,” he said. - FMT