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PUTRAJAYA – Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers have a huge responsibility of restoring public trust and confidence in the commission, said former chief justice Tun Md Raus Sharif.
In regard to this, he said MACC chief Tan Sri Azam Baki now has a big task ahead but acknowledged that this could not be done overnight.
“We have entrusted the MACC to lead our fight against corruption.
“Such being the nature of trust placed on them, it goes without saying they must carry out the trust, must be persons of unquestionable integrity and should be above suspicion,” he said at his luncheon address at the 3rd Malaysian Anti-Corruption Forum here today.
Raus reminded the MACC that it was important for them to act independently and impartially without undue influence from any party.
“And the officers of MACC must carry out their duties without fear or favour, most importantly free of political interference,” he added.
He said this was necessary because the last four years had cast doubt on MACC’s independence and impartiality after the appointment of an active politician as its chief.
The former judge said that appointment had led to a widespread perception that whatever action was taken or done during the period was politically motivated, and there were also allegations of improper withdrawal of charges.
“And to top it off, issues of integrity of a few MACC officers started to surface,” he explained.
On the same note, Raus said the fact that Malaysia continues to fare badly in global perception surveys on corruption must be taken as a warning, especially by the MACC.
Malaysia dropped to 62nd place in the Corruption Perception Index from 57th in 2020. – Bernama, May 24, 2022
