KUALA LUMPUR – PKR communications head Fahmi Fadzil said the imbroglio involving Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki should be brought to Parliament.
The Lembah Pantai MP said the press conference held by Azam and MACC’s advisory board (LPPR) chairman Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang did not allay concerns regarding the commissioner’s alleged conflict of interest in owning corporate stocks.
In a statement to The Vibes, Fahmi said the conference raised more questions than answers.
“From the perspective of good governance, transparency and accountability, I’m not sure if the public can accept the explanations given today,” Fahmi said in the brief statement.
“The best place for this matter to be resolved is still Parliament.”
Fahmi said the matter could be brought to Parliament either through the Public Accounts Committee, a Parliamentary Select Committee, or through an official ministerial statement in Dewan Rakyat.
Earlier today, Abu Zahar insisted that he did not receive any documentary proof alleging impropriety involving the anti-graft body’s top guns, saying no emails pertaining to claims of misconduct, supposedly sent by former Consultation and Corruption Prevention Panel (PPPR) member Prof Edmund Terence Gomez, had reached him.
Both PPPR and LPPR are independent oversight bodies under the MACC.
The Vibes had, on Sunday, published the email trails between Gomez, the LPPR secretariat and PPPR chairman Tan Sri Borhan Dolah that took place last November.
However, during a tell-all press conference this afternoon, Abu Zahar challenged Gomez to provide evidence he had indeed sent those emails detailing the impropriety.
Earlier in his press conference, he also revealed that the board he chairs had conducted a meeting with Azam on November 24 to seek explanation on the allegations that have since plagued the anti-graft body.
Following the meeting, he said LPPR was satisfied by the explanation given by Azam and found no criminal elements involving him or conflict of interest.
According to Abu Zahar, Azam had explained that the purchase of millions of ringgit of shares of a public listed company supposedly bought by him was actually done by his brother, Nasir Baki, under his name.
However, Abu Zahar said Azam had no vested interest in the shares and does not own any of them.
On Sunday, Fahmi was among opposition leaders who said Azam’s months-long silence on the issue would be a thorn in the anti-graft agency’s side.
“We don’t want this issue to be like 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
“There were many ploys by certain quarters to silence those who raised the issue in and out of Parliament,” Fahmi said, as quoted by Sinar Harian.
Fahmi also said that on December 14 last year, opposition politicians had raised a motion to debate the allegations, but the matter was not allowed by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun.
“Parliament is the best place for this issue to be clarified, but as Parliament does not convene until February 28, it is best at this time for the MACC chief commissioner to be put on leave while the investigation is being carried out,” he said.
“His deputy can assume the post while police carry out a probe from various aspects involving the context of criminal and commercial allegations.” – The Vibes, January 5, 2021
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