Let’s be honest.
Azam Baki’s departure is not some quiet administrative transition.
It is the closing of one of the most controversial chapters in Malaysia’s anti-corruption institution.
For years, his leadership at SPRM carried baggage..questions, criticism, public distrust, and political heat that never truly went away.
And now his term ends.
No extension.
But the bigger question is not Azam leaving.
It is who comes next.
Because while many are celebrating the end of Azam’s tenure, one fact remains:
The shortlist for the next SPRM chief is still being presented by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
And that matters.
A lot.
Rafizi Ramli recently raised what many Malaysians have been thinking all along: appointments to key institutions must be independent and credible, not political exercises dressed up as reform.
That is the whole point.
You cannot spend years talking about institutional reform, separation of powers, and clean governance, only for the same concentration of executive power to decide who heads the country’s most powerful anti-corruption agency.
That defeats the purpose.
This is bigger than Azam Baki.
This is about whether SPRM belongs to the rakyat or remains politically answerable to the government of the day.
Because replacing one man is easy.
Changing the system is hard.
And if the next chief is chosen through the same political pipeline, then what exactly has changed?
The face?
Or just the packaging?
That is the question Rafizi is forcing onto the table.
And frankly, it is a question Malaysians deserve answered.
RAJA SARA PETRA
Raja Sara Petra (rajasarapetra@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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