PUTRAJAYA should set up the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission (IACC) as a constitutional oversight and supervisory body to oversee the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), civil society groups said.

IACC was first mooted by anti-graft agencies in 2015, when a memorandum was submitted to then minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Paul Low.

The memorandum was made to call for the restructuring of MACC to ensure its full independence.

IACC will provide oversight to MACC, which will be renamed the Anti-Corruption Agency where it will be the enforcement arm of IACC.

The Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism director Cynthia Gabriel told a Webinar on Reforming the MACC this afternoon that apart from restructuring MACC, the government also needed to separate the offices of the attorney-general and the public prosecutor.

“We have seen in some cases that integrity has been compromise. This call for the separation of the offices of the AG and the public prosecutor is nothing new,” she said.

“As someone who advises the government, his authority should extend only to the federal AGC, not to the rest of the legal service.”

Although many groups, including the Bar Council, have called for the formation of IACC, Putrajaya has yet to bring the matter to Parliament.

In order for IACC to be formed, the government needs two-thirds support in Parliament.

Former Suhakam commissioner Mah Weng Kwai told panellists how he was disappointed with the Institutional Report Committee not making its findings public.

He said the report should not be made confidential if the country is serious in becoming transparent.

The report was set to give recommendations to the government concerning several key national institutions and its final report was sent to the Council of Eminent Persons and Prime Minister’s Department in August 2018.

To date, the findings have yet to be made public.

Take grouses to the street

Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan president Mohamed Arshad Raji said civil society groups could hold street protests to demand for reforms.

He said only the people can shake up the government in calling for transparency in the country.

“Since 2015, we have had four prime ministers and nothing has changed. We must not bother about who is the PM, but we must get the people’s support to get things happening,” he said.

“The public has the right to know what is going on in the country, and only with the mass support we can shake up the government.”

The ex-serviceman stated that a street protest will get Putrajaya’s attention. 

Rasuah Buster spokesman Shah Hakim Zain told the panellists that his organisation is organising a nationwide roadshow next month to educate the people on the effect of corruption on the country’s economy.

“Starting December 9, we will go on tour to educate the people about corruption. We will educate the rural folk about the problems of corruption,” he said. – November 26, 2021.