KUALA LUMPUR – Amanah MP Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub has filed an urgent motion to the Dewan Rakyat to debate issues pertaining to allegations against Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki.
The Pulai lawmaker said in a statement that he filed the motion with Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun this morning under Standing Order 18(1), to discuss Azam’s ownership of around two million shares in a publicly listed company.
He hopes that the motion will be accepted for debate in the next lower House sitting beginning March 1.
“I hope the motion will be accepted and discussed in the Dewan Rakyat sitting, and not the special chamber because the issue has cast doubt on the integrity of the civil servant, which raised distrust among the public,” said the Amanah deputy president.
In a letter to Azhar, Salahuddin stressed that the matter needs to be expedited so that MACC’s Anti-Corruption Advisory Board can conduct further investigations into allegations against Azam who owns an excessive number of shares.
He said this is a matter of public interest, to restore public confidence in the anti-graft agency, and to curb corrupt activities and all activities related to breaches of trust, which must be answered by the government.
In a press conference yesterday, Azam said that his brother, Nasir Baki, used his share-trading account to purchase shares in a private company in 2015, but maintained that he had no vested interest or benefit.
Azam went on to explain that all the shares were eventually moved to Nasir’s account, and insisted that he saw no issue with allowing his brother to initially use his.
According to Azam, who is under fire, the allegations made against him were created by certain interested parties who wanted to take advantage of him to attack MACC and ruin the commission’s image and his personal reputation.
He also said that he did not come forward earlier to respond to recent allegations as he is only answerable to the anti-graft body’s advisory board.
He said he saw no need to come clean on the matter as he did not commit any crimes and was not involved in any conflicts of interest. – The Vibes, January 6, 2022
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