Speech by Lim Kit Siang at the Pakatan Rakyat Deepavali reception at Teluk Intan on Sunday, 8^th November 2009: 

When will MACC command public confidence to the extent that Malaysians will publicly rally to its support against any obstruction of anti-corruption efforts as is happening in Indonesia?

I have been asking myself - When will MACC command public confidence to the extent that Malaysians will publicly rally to its support against any obstruction of anti-corruption efforts as is happening in Indonesia?

In Indonesia, we are seeing the phenomenon of the Indonesian people publicly rallying to the support of the Indonesian anti-corruption agency, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to protest moves to frame KPK investigators and cripple the KPK anti-corruption campaign.

The Indonesian public believe that that the KPK has become the target of the police and the attorney-general’s office because of its reputation of putting corrupt officials behind bars – even those in high places.

Indonesians respect the KPK but have little faith in the police or the judiciary.

Two KPK anti-graft investigators became the cause célèbre in Indonesia, with a million people joining Facebook supporting them, over a conspiracy by Indonesia’s top detective and the country’s chief prosecutor to falsely imprison them over extortion and abuse of power.

Indonesians across the archipelago sat transfixed for hours as wire-tapped recordings were broadcast on national television of discussions between members of the police, the attorney-general’s office and a businessman in a conspiracy to weaken the KPK by framing the anti-corruption agency.

When will such a phenomenon take place in Malaysia with the Malaysian public rallying to the defence of MACC to support its anti-corruption campaign?

In Malaysia, if there is a public demonstration it will be against the MACC and not in support for the anti-corruption agency – as in the case of the mysterious plunge to death of DAP aide Teoh Beng Hock on July 16 after he went to the 14th floor MACC headquarters in Shah Alam to help in MACC investigations over a RM2,400 constituency allocation.

The Indonesian KPK has won the trust and confidence of Indonesians as it had made enemies across the spectrum of Indonesian government and administration for its successful prosecutions and its far-reaching powers to wiretap suspects and probe their bank accounts.

MACC however achieved the exact reverse, forfeiting even more public support and confidence than the Anti-Corruption Agency which it replaced on January 1 this year as it has proved to be even more of a catspaw of Umno/Barisan Nasional masters to further their political agenda against the Pakatan Rakyat.

*Lim Kit Siang, DAP Parliamentary leader & MP for Ipoh Timor