Harapan leaders: MACC the problem, not the solution to graft

Harapan leaders: MACC the problem, not the solution to graft


The MACC, which pledged to pay serious attention to the country's two-year consecutive drop in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), is not the solution but the problem itself, said Amanah and DAP.

Amanah president Mohamad Sabu and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said the graft-buster allowed itself to be used as a political weapon against opposition politicians and it has failed to act accordingly in several prominent cases of abuses of power.

“Malaysia recorded its worst performance in the CPI rankings in 2021 and all the MACC has to say is that it will pay serious attention and propose serious recommendations,” they said in a joint statement today.

This showed that the MACC still has no clue whatsoever the cause for the drop in CPI rankings, they said.

“Over the last two years, the MACC has consistently and persistently allowed itself to be used as a political weapon against opposition politicians with threats of investigations and prosecutions that will magically disappear when the opposition MPs defect and support the unelected prime minister.

“The MACC has failed to perform its statutory duty to act impartially, independently and professionally in a transparent manner without fear or favour. Worse, MACC itself is riddled with abuse of power and corrupt practices where the lawman becomes the outlaw,” they said.

The 2021 CPI, released by Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) on Jan 25, showed the country's score slipped to 48 as compared to 51 in the previous year and 53 points in 2019.

Malaysia also dropped five spots in CPI 2021 to the 62nd position out of 180 countries in terms of public sector corruption.

In an immediate response, MACC vowed serious attention on the matter and said it would review the findings of the TI-CPI 2021 report and come out with recommendations.

Meanwhile, Mohamad and Lim also cited 17 prominent cases of abuse of power, which they said the graft-buster had failed to act accordingly.

This included the controversy surrounding the share ownership of MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki, the Pandora papers, alleged cases involving Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rina Harun, Deputy Defence Minister Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz, MPs Tajuddin Abdul Rahman and Dr Xavier Jeyakumar.

“MACC must come clean and explain why there is still no action on these 17 cases.

“Failing to do their duty professionally and responsibly will only cause Malaysia’s CPI rankings to slip down further this year and cause a further drop of investor confidence and Malaysia’s competitiveness,” added Mohamad and Lim.