LAST weekend’s #TangkapAzamBaki rally calling for the arrest of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Tan Sri Azam Baki lent a sense of déjà vu to those whose memory has yet to fail them.
It was 15 years ago that a similar rally calling for the head of the anti-graft chief was held – only this time instead of Kuala Lumpur, it was held in Putrajaya with the final destination being the Prime Minister’s Office.
Also, this time, instead of being organised by youth movements, the rally on March 6, 2007, to hand over a memorandum of protest to then prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, was led by political parties such as PKR, PAS and Gerakan.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) was suffering a crisis of confidence.
Its then director-general Datuk Seri Zulkipli Mat Noor was accused of, among others, corruption, abuse of power, living beyond his means and even sexual impropriety.
The accusations were made in 2007 by a former ACA officer Muhammad Ramli Manan to then Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Bakri Omar, where the alleged offences were committed when Zulkipli was in the police force.
Zulkipli was police chief for Johor and later Sarawak before being appointed as the first police officer to head the ACA.
There were contradictory statements as to the probe into the allegations with Zulkipli saying he was cleared while then attorney-general Tan Sri Gani Patail reported as asking Bakri’s successor Tan Sri Musa Hassan to speed up investigations.
In fairness, Zulkipli was cleared later on but by then the credibility of the ACA was tattered and bruised.
Transparency International (TI) had placed Malaysia at 44th place in 2007 in its Corruption Perception Index (CPI) – a drop from 36th spot previously.
It was not only an indictment of the ACA, but also the testament to the leadership of Abdullah who was regarded as “Mr. Clean” due to the lack of controversies surrounding him prior to taking over as prime minister.
Probably due to the growing public discontent getting louder, on March 31, 2007, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that Zulkipli’s contract would not be renewed.
Abdullah had also initiated a reform of the ACA by introducing the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Bill, which was enacted into law the following year.
“Reforming the anti-corruption agency must be our legacy,” said Abdullah in an interview with me just before he stepped down.
Fast forward to 2021, the reformed MACC is again facing a crisis of confidence in its leadership. The allegations against the current chief commissioner, as those against Zulkipli, also include unexplained wealth.
Contradictory statements from Azam’s press conference and the Securities Commission (SC) also do not help in repairing the image of MACC.
Azam said his trading account was used by his brother and he had no interests in the share trading that occurred – only for the SC to say just the opposite – in that the chief commissioner was the named account holder and was in control of it, as well as had given instructions for the purchase, sale and transfer of securities from the said account.
It does not help that the oversight committee members themselves are bickering publicly with panel members keeping their distance from Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang, the chairman of MACC’s advisory board, who was “satisfied” with Azam’s explanation and was “cleared” by the board.
With the absence of a proper investigation against Azam, it is only natural for the people to take to the streets as they did last weekend.
The current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was cryptic in his advice to the people to accept the SC’s ruling – accept what, really? That the SC had seemed to vindicate whistleblower Lalitha Kunaratnam by confirming her independent revelations of Azam’s shareholdings?
Azam is a decorated graft fighter. The Sabah Water Department corruption and money laundering probe was led by him and was the largest confiscation of public money – RM114 million until the 1MDB investigations, which he was also involved in saw the confiscation and recovery of RM4 billion in monies and properties.
It is unfortunate that he now finds himself in the same pickle as Zulkipli 15 years prior.
Unfortunately for him the MACC is an institution larger than any individual. Standing firm as proof of his innocence and dragging the likes of the king to defend his position is not in the interests of MACC nor the public.
The latest TI CPI index revealed yesterday (January 25) shows we have slid to 62nd place. This is bad for our image, which means it is bad for business and the institution fighting graft needs to be free of even the most minute negative perception.
Even if he is as innocent as he insists that he is, Azam cannot be the face of MACC as his personal issues have brought disrepute to the commission.
It is best that he takes a sabbatical to fight these allegations as his tenure only ends on May 12, 2023.
Meanwhile Ismail Sabri took office with almost the same public perception that accompanied Abdullah. He should listen not only to the public but the silent voices of the hundreds of MACC officers who are doing good work.
It would be a disservice to them to allow the institution to continue to be embroiled in controversy when its credibility as an enforcement agency is in question. – The Vibes, January 26, 2022
Terence Fernandez is editor in chief of Petra News
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