PARLIAMENT | Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail acknowledged that political patronage exists for illegal online gambling which makes it difficult for the government to tackle the issue.
He pointed out that it’s a worldwide issue and not just one that Malaysia is facing.
“For me to stand here and say illegal online gambling in Malaysia is free from political patronage, people will laugh at us.
“Yes, there exists an element of political patronage for these players, affirmatively, there is,” Saifuddin said during the Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was replying to R Ramanan (Harapan-Sungai Buloh) who asked whether there was such patronage in the issue of taking action against illegal online gambling.
Political patronage of illegal online gambling is where the players’ influence and protection, as well as corruption and bribery, come from, Saifuddin said.
Political masters may protect the players from having action taken against them or leak information to the players to avoid enforcement raids and so on, he added.
The police are aware of this problem and it will take a lot of government effort to resolve this, he said, adding that the ministry intends to investigate this matter.
“I want to say that yes, political patronage is the biggest obstacle faced by the Home Ministry, the police and the government as a whole (in handling illegal online gambling),” he said.
Earlier in his reply, Saifuddin said the current legislation is not sufficient to handle the evolving platforms of illegal online gambling.
Efforts must be made to amend the law in order for enforcement to effectively tackle this matter, he said.
“InsyaAllah, I will discuss this with the prime minister,” he said. - Mkini
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