Ministers may face conflict of interest, says Tunku Abdul Aziz

KUALA LUMPUR: To keep graft in check, politicians should not be appointed to run government-linked companies, said Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission ad­visory board chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim.

He said politicians holding GLC positions may face conflict of interest leading to abuse of power and responsibility.

“Many appointments are made for political reasons. If you are appointed to a position power, there are decisions you have to make on a daily basis, weekly, monthly and whatever.

“And in making these decisions, there will be some demands made on you because of your connections, your relatives, your friends and also your cronies,” he said in an interview.

Tunku Abdul Aziz said this trend of abusing power because of conflict of interest has been happening for a long time, and can be stopped if the appointment for a top post in a GLC was conducted with “proper selection and screening”.

Tunku Abdul Aziz said the selection process must include going through the candidate’s background and track record.

He said there were always people out there who wanted special treatment to have the advantage over their competitors.

“They don’t care how it is done. This is where corruption starts,” he said.

He said that proper recruitment procedures and techniques could help achieve transparency and accountability, which were essential for top management.

Tunku Abdul Aziz believes that corruption is now taking place at the operating level.

“Ministers can’t sign or award contracts. But directors in some departments can do it. This is where abuse of power takes place.

“If you have no power, you cannot abuse it. Civil servants have a lot more power than their political masters and ministers,” he said. — Bernama