PKR Youth members gathered in front of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters in Putrajaya today, demanding chief commissioner Azam Baki’s resignation.

PKR Youth chief Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir led about 50 wing members in a more than 20-vehicle convoy from Dataran Putra to the MACC headquarters some 3km away.

The group, whose members brought placards, also wants the anti-graft agency to be placed under Parliament and an independent investigation carried out into allegations concerning the chief commissioner.

It also handed over a memorandum to an MACC representative.

Akmal Nasrullah said: “Instead of being under the prime minister, MACC must be under Parliament. There is a need to call for a special parliamentary sitting to discuss the integrity of the anti-graft agency.”

Azam courted controversy after he told the media that he allowed his brother, Nasir, to use his trading account to purchase shares from two public-listed companies.

He said the shares were later transferred to his brother.

Sungai Buloh MP R. Sivarasa raised the issue in Parliament on December 14, asking whether Azam declared his alleged ownership of 2.15 million in Excel Force MSC Bhd in 2015, and the 1.93 million shares in Gets Global Bhd in 2015 and 1.02 million shares the following year.

Azam said he informed his superiors of the purchases in 2015,and that they raised no concerns.

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang earlier today urged the prime minister to get his cabinet to act on the allegations against the chief commissioner.

He said if Azam is not prepared to clear his name before the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Agencies in the Prime Minister’s Department, then he must be terminated.

Lim is not the first lawmaker to call on the government to act against Azam.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and PKR MPs have demanded Azam to resign and called for an independent investigation, but several ministers have defended the chief commissioner.

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Takiyuddin Hassan said Azam has done enough to clear his name and Law Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said there is no law or regulation that prohibits civil servants from acquiring shares in public-listed companies. – January 10, 2022.