Murray Hunter
Azam Baki Should Stop Preaching New Laws While Selective Enforcement Destroys Public Trust
Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo) views MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki’s latest call for three new laws with deep scepticism and open disbelief.
Mar 24, 2026
PRESS STATEMENT
BORNEO’S PLIGHT IN MALAYSIA FOUNDATION (BoPiMaFo)
23 March 2026
Azam Baki Should Stop Preaching New Laws While Selective Enforcement Destroys Public Trust
Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo) views MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki’s latest call for three new laws with deep scepticism and open disbelief.
Let us be blunt:
Malaysia does not mainly suffer from a shortage of laws. Malaysia suffers from a shortage of equal, fearless, and impartial enforcement. Azam’s proposal for laws on misconduct in public office, NGO fundraising, and political funding comes at a time when his own credibility is under heavy public scrutiny. That is precisely why his sermon rings hollow.
The first and most obvious question is this:
Who exactly is Azam trying to impress?
Before demanding new powers, new controls, and new legal machinery, the MACC must first answer for the public perception that corruption enforcement in this country is selective. In Sabah, the mining scandal became a national embarrassment. Yet the public saw charges brought in June 2025 against only three individuals — two Sabah assemblymen and businessman Albert Tei — while wider public questions about the broader scandal did not simply disappear. That is exactly how suspicion of selective prosecution grows.
BoPiMaFo therefore says this plainly:
A new law in the hands of selective enforcers is not reform. It is merely a new instrument of selective pressure.
That is why Azam’s proposal is so troubling. He speaks about “misconduct in public office” and tighter control over NGOs and fundraising, but Malaysians are entitled to ask whether these laws would be enforced impartially, or whether they would become convenient tools against easier targets while politically connected actors remain untouched. The real crisis is not legislative scarcity. The real crisis is trust.
This credibility problem is not abstract. It is personal.
Azam is currently burdened by serious controversy over his own position. In February 2026, reporting highlighted allegations regarding his shareholdings, including reports that he held 17.7 million shares in a financial-services company, prompting a Cabinet-ordered probe. Azam has denied wrongdoing and has since filed a defamation suit over parts of the reporting. But whatever his defence may be, the fact remains that a man under such public scrutiny cannot pretend that the central problem in Malaysia is everyone else’s ethics.
The wider context makes this even worse. Reports this month said Azam’s contract is expected not to be extended when it ends on 12 May 2026, amid mounting pressure and allegations surrounding MACC’s conduct. Whether or not the extension issue is finally decided, it shows one undeniable fact: public confidence in the MACC leadership has been badly shaken.
So Azam should stop acting as though Malaysia’s anti-corruption problem begins with missing statutes.
Malaysia already has the MACC Act 2009, criminal breach of trust provisions under the Penal Code, and other fiscal and public-finance laws that can be used against misuse of funds. Azam himself acknowledged that these laws already exist. The real question is whether they are being used consistently, fairly, and without fear or favour.
BoPiMaFo therefore rejects this latest performance for what it appears to be: an attempt to shift attention from selective enforcement to legislative theatre.
The public is tired of lectures from officials who cannot first resolve the crisis of confidence surrounding their own institutions.
The public is tired of hearing that more laws are needed, when existing laws already seem to be applied unevenly.
The public is tired of seeing anti-corruption rhetoric used as a shield while serious questions remain unanswered.
Our position is simple:
If prosecution is selective, new laws will not clean the system. They will only deepen fear, cynicism, and abuse.
Before proposing new laws for NGOs, public officers, and political funding, Azam Baki should first answer the more basic national demand:
Can the MACC enforce existing laws equally against everyone — or not?
Until that question is answered convincingly, Azam has no business lecturing the nation about integrity.
Daniel John Jambun President
Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo)
PRESS STATEMENT
BORNEO’S PLIGHT IN MALAYSIA FOUNDATION (BoPiMaFo)
23 March 2026
Azam Baki Should Stop Preaching New Laws While Selective Enforcement Destroys Public Trust
Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo) views MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki’s latest call for three new laws with deep scepticism and open disbelief.
Let us be blunt:
Malaysia does not mainly suffer from a shortage of laws. Malaysia suffers from a shortage of equal, fearless, and impartial enforcement. Azam’s proposal for laws on misconduct in public office, NGO fundraising, and political funding comes at a time when his own credibility is under heavy public scrutiny. That is precisely why his sermon rings hollow.
The first and most obvious question is this:
Who exactly is Azam trying to impress?
Before demanding new powers, new controls, and new legal machinery, the MACC must first answer for the public perception that corruption enforcement in this country is selective. In Sabah, the mining scandal became a national embarrassment. Yet the public saw charges brought in June 2025 against only three individuals — two Sabah assemblymen and businessman Albert Tei — while wider public questions about the broader scandal did not simply disappear. That is exactly how suspicion of selective prosecution grows.
BoPiMaFo therefore says this plainly:
A new law in the hands of selective enforcers is not reform. It is merely a new instrument of selective pressure.
That is why Azam’s proposal is so troubling. He speaks about “misconduct in public office” and tighter control over NGOs and fundraising, but Malaysians are entitled to ask whether these laws would be enforced impartially, or whether they would become convenient tools against easier targets while politically connected actors remain untouched. The real crisis is not legislative scarcity. The real crisis is trust.
This credibility problem is not abstract. It is personal.
Azam is currently burdened by serious controversy over his own position. In February 2026, reporting highlighted allegations regarding his shareholdings, including reports that he held 17.7 million shares in a financial-services company, prompting a Cabinet-ordered probe. Azam has denied wrongdoing and has since filed a defamation suit over parts of the reporting. But whatever his defence may be, the fact remains that a man under such public scrutiny cannot pretend that the central problem in Malaysia is everyone else’s ethics.
The wider context makes this even worse. Reports this month said Azam’s contract is expected not to be extended when it ends on 12 May 2026, amid mounting pressure and allegations surrounding MACC’s conduct. Whether or not the extension issue is finally decided, it shows one undeniable fact: public confidence in the MACC leadership has been badly shaken.
So Azam should stop acting as though Malaysia’s anti-corruption problem begins with missing statutes.
Malaysia already has the MACC Act 2009, criminal breach of trust provisions under the Penal Code, and other fiscal and public-finance laws that can be used against misuse of funds. Azam himself acknowledged that these laws already exist. The real question is whether they are being used consistently, fairly, and without fear or favour.
BoPiMaFo therefore rejects this latest performance for what it appears to be: an attempt to shift attention from selective enforcement to legislative theatre.
The public is tired of lectures from officials who cannot first resolve the crisis of confidence surrounding their own institutions.
The public is tired of hearing that more laws are needed, when existing laws already seem to be applied unevenly.
The public is tired of seeing anti-corruption rhetoric used as a shield while serious questions remain unanswered.
Our position is simple:
If prosecution is selective, new laws will not clean the system. They will only deepen fear, cynicism, and abuse.
Before proposing new laws for NGOs, public officers, and political funding, Azam Baki should first answer the more basic national demand:
Can the MACC enforce existing laws equally against everyone — or not?
Until that question is answered convincingly, Azam has no business lecturing the nation about integrity.
Daniel John Jambun President
Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo)
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