Malaysia’s worst performance in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index(TI-CPI) :- The MACC is not the solution to the problem but is the problem

Malaysia recorded its worst performance in the TI-CPI rankings and all the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has to say is that it will pay serious attention and propose serious recommendations to the country’s two-year consecutive drop in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ever since the backdoor government replaced the elected government in 2020. That MACC still has no clue whatsoever the cause for the drop in CPI rankings from No. 51 in the 2019 TI-CPI Report with 53 points as compared to the current No. 62 ranking with only 48 points in the latest 2021 Report will draw this conclusion.

The MACC is not the solution to the problem but is the problem.

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.

That MACC is not the solution to the problem but the problem itself is highlighted by 17 prominent cases of abuses of power where MACC has failed to act.

1. The shares shenanigans of MACC chief Azam Baki when he tried to cover up his unexplained wealth of shares and transactions involving millions of shares valued at millions of ringgit by lying that his brother used his shares account by proxy when Azam was exposed as the sole operator;
2. The failure to act on the Pandora papers exposing prominent politicians involved in illicit financial outflows into offshore accounts involving billions of ringgit;
3. No action against former Prasarana Berhad chairman and Pasir Salak MP, Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman afer he was arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) MACC for alleged abuse of power in May 2021;
4. Former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was recorded on audio, offering political posts and positions in Government Linked Corporation(GLC) in exchange for political support. UMNO Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah revealed that he rejected an offer to be Petronas Chairman because it was unconstitutional. UMNO Deputy President Mohamad Hasan rejected an offer to be Chairman of Tenaga Nasional Bhd;
5. Tebrau MP Steven Choong, who defected from PKR to support Muhyiddin, admitted that Muhyiddin promised him an official position that would provide him with a platform to rebuild the nation’s economy. Is this not an inducement for Steven Choong to jump?
6. Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rina Harun’s dubious ability to settle a bankruptcy suit for debts amounting to RM1.3 million, when she had declared assets of RM72,000 as at 20 November 2019 with a monthly income of RM34,000. She has refused to explain her source of wealth;
7. The spate of defections of Sabah State Assemblyperson in 2020, generated by Tan Sri Musa Aman. This attempt at a backdoor government in Sabah ultimately led to the dissolution of the Sabah State Assembly and state general election, which caused the 2nd wave of escalating COVID-19 infections nation-wide. Tan Sri Musa Aman was subsequently appointed as a Sabah State Minister;
8. Former Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal exposed that the leader of the previous Sabah state government had awarded 700,000 acres of forest reserve land under Yayasan Sabah or Sabah Foundation to “friends and family”;
9. Then Deputy Defence Minister Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz, wrote a letter of recommendation for his own son to be appointed into the Board of Director of Pharmaniaga, a company under the oversight and authority of the Defence Ministry. Then Defence Minister Ismail Sabri had agreed to his Deputy’s recommendation;
10. Then Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa wrote a letter of support endorsing a contractor’s bid to be awarded a huge highway project in Kelantan via direct negotiation;
11. Then Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal promised to leverage on his public post to issue support letters in exchange for votes in the Bersatu Youth election;
12. Parliament Public Accounts Committee had asked for MACC to act after exposing former Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai granting a RM149.5 million contract by direct award to a company partly owned(25%) by current Deputy Minister Wee Jeck Seng;
13. The expose by former Inspector-General of Police(IGP) Abdul Hamid Bador of a cartel of corrupt police officers, including a former IGP, on the payroll of crime syndicates. MACC is wrong for refusing to act by reason it is an internal police matter. Corruption must not be settled internally but resolved publicly in courts;
14. Granting of federal government contracts to office bearers of Bersatu at a Bersatu political meeting;
15. Kuala Langat MP Dr Xavier Jayakumar’s investigation by MACC turned cold after Xavier defected and supported Muhyiddin, which former Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said involved RM78.2 million;
16. Five PKR MPs rejected inducements or were subjected to intimidation to defect and support Muhyiddin namely Putatan MP Awang Husaini Sahari, M. Karupaiya (Padang Serai), S. Kesavan (Sg Siput), Michael Teo Yu Leong (Miri) and Sekijang MP Natrah Ismail. No action against those trying to trigger the defections of the 5 PKR MPs;
17. MACC chief Azam Baki refusing to go on leave to ensure that there is no interference in the hush-hush MACC’s investigations following the arrest of three senior MACC officers for abuse of power and malpractice over the loss of US$6 million (RM25 million) belonging to former Malaysian External Intelligence Organisation director-general Hasanah Abdul Hamid.

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.