PETALING JAYA, May 25 – Former Chief Justice Raus Shariff’s assessment of the rot in the MACC is disappointing to say the least, and does not reflect the reality of public perception of the said institution, said Member of Parliament for Bukit Gelugor, Ram Karpal Singh.
Ram, who is also Chairman of DAP’s National Legal Bureau cited Raus’ statement at the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Forum 2022 – “Events in the last four years have somewhat cast doubt on the independence and impartiality of the MACC. It started with the appointment of an active politician as the chief commissioner of MACC” – as not being an honest account.
“Raus’ view seems to suggest that the MACC enjoyed public confidence before the appointment of the said so-called political appointee which cannot be further from the truth,” Ram said in a statement issued today.
As a former CJ, Raus ought to have been candid about the image of the MACC which took a beating when leaked audio recordings of a former Prime Minister and a would be MACC official in 2016 were made public by former MACC chief Latheefa Koya in 2020 in the presence of current MACC chief Azam Baki.
Whether or not the said recordings are true, they are certainly damning and ought to have been addressed by Raus, particularly when Azam himself was at the press conference where the recordings were exposed. Was Azam’s presence an indication that he believed the said recordings were indeed authentic?
Ram also said the biggest disappointment from Raus’ speech was his failure to address the elephant in the room – the recent shares controversy surrounding Azam which has attracted considerable criticism from the public, leading to a serious confidence deficit of the MACC.
“One would have thought such incidents would have been addressed or at least commented on by a former CJ at such an esteemed event.
“Raus’ failure to do so and instead, pin the blame of the rot in the image of the MACC on the appointment of a political appointee in the last four years, who I assume to be Latheefa during the reign of Pakatan Harapan, suggests his utter ignorance of public perception of the MACC today, a clear sign of a man detached from reality.”
–WE