PM says will not be unjust in crackdown on corruption

 

Anwar Ibrahim has given an assurance that he will not be unjust towards anyone, including opposition leaders, in the fight against corruption.

The prime minister said he had gone through very difficult times when he was not in the government and thus would not resort to victimising and slandering any quarters.

“At this age, I want to take my bitter experience as a reminder and lesson to avoid inflicting cruelty on anyone, including opposition leaders.

“But don’t cook up excuses to give the impression that leaders of opposition parties should not be charged (over corruption),” he said.

The PKR president said this in his winding-up speech at the Special PKR National Congress 2023 themed “Malaysia Madani, Implementation of Idealism” at Stadium Malawati in Shah Alam today.

He said since being appointed as prime minister, his priority was not to charge anyone but to rectify the flaws in the country’s system so that Malaysia could regain its shine.

For this, the MACC, Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), and judiciary need to be rejuvenated as independent bodies with integrity, he said.

He said corrupt people should not be protected because their actions had damaged the country and affected its drive for development.

“Sometimes during discussions with enforcement bodies, I just did not know where to start. Every file has problems. That’s why we are baffled when such matters (fighting corruption) are not supported by people professing the Islamic spirit, Malays or those who love the country,” he added.

Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said if the system was not cleaned up, it would cause more leakages and to prevent this, the government would remain firm about combating corruption and implementing good governance.

“If state or federal elected representatives are found to be involved in corruption, don’t come to me. It’s not my work to protect the corrupt, including from PKR itself,” he said.

- Bernama