John Edgar Hoover, was a man who held sway over and was feared by American presidents , politicians and civil right leaders for 48 years , first as the director of the Bureau of Investigation and then the Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI) until his death in May 1972.
During his long tenure, Hoover became powerful by collecting huge amounts of compromising and potentially embarrassing information on powerful people, especially politicians . He had so much dirt on and knew of skeletons in the closet of the power elites that it is said that the eight US presidents he served under feared to sack him.
Hoover was a racist, used blackmail and intimidation, spied on civil rights and antiwar groups and gathered sometimes unsolicited information on opponents of the serving presidents. He used information compiled to build political support for the FBI and his long career.
Hoover’s long reign brought into question a political system that tolerated him for so long despite the many flaws and abuse of power surrounding him being well known.
Azam Baki became Chief Commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission(MACC) in March 2020 and has served under three Prime Ministers : Muhyiddin Yassin, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, and Anwar Ibrahim in the short period of six years.
Under Anwar, Azam’s contract has been extended three times and his current contract is due to expire on 12 May 2026.
Anwar when extending Azam’s contract in 2025 has stated categorically he is brave and there is no one braver than Azam. This extension and endorsement was not well received by many people and politicians including his own daughter, Nurul Izzah.
Before the February 15 protest against Azam , there was a #TangkapAzamBaki(Arrest Azam Baki ) on January 22, 2022. It was in Bangsar and the government had reacted so defensively and strongly against the people and politicians including from PH demand for justice for the alleged stock trading scandal that a huge police force was deployed to restrict and contain the protest. Parts of Bangsar and the downtown LRT, MRT and monorail stations were closed off.
This massive show of force and repression by the government for a civil servant under contract was surprising and alarming. Powerful forces and influences within the government were most likely at play to suppress the protest and to protect Azam.
The government did not play their strong card on February 15, not wishing to repeat the over-the-top show of force like the Bangsar protest . They were also helped by the fact it was called quite hurriedly and close to Chinese New Year when many were away or prioritized their celebration and holiday plans.
There are calls for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) by allied political parties , DAP and MCA, but there has been no directive from the cabinet.
A Singapore news media has reported that Azam’s contract will not be renewed come May but Prime Minister Anwar has ducked the question on the renewal when asked.
This overtly protection of a civil servant’s contractual position whose job is to investigate and prosecute corruption in the public and private sectors smacks of people in power possibly fearful of exposure and revelation of embarrassing and compromising events or even corruption. It is hard to find any plausible and compelling reasons to extend his contract or be immune to an RCI apart from being claimed to be “brave” by the nation’s highest office holder.
J. Edgar Hoover had a powerful grip and struck fear on the people in power in order to remain Director of the FBI for nearly fifty years.
Does Malaysia now have a “Hoover” in our midst?
Koo Wee Hon (kooweehon@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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