MACC chief: Selangor people have signed pledge, what about state govt?

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad has received a banner bearing the signatures of Selangor residents who had signed the Corruption-Free Pledge (IBR).
 
Accompanied by nine community leaders representing the different districts in Selangor, the attendees of the commission’s state-level 50th anniversary celebration also recited the IBR.

 

The celebration was also in conjunction with the state being the first destination for MACC's Anti-Corruption Expedition initiative.

"This morning, as you saw, the rakyat of Selangor were represented by their district representatives, nine of them. The rakyat themselves have pledged, what about the leadership of Selangor?" said Dzulkifli at the MACC state-level golden jubilee at the Petaling Jaya City Council civic hall on Monday.

Dzulkifli was responding to prior comments by Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali that the MACC’s anti-graft drive only needed a vow.

 

“First of all, you have to pledge first lah. After that, is the programmes. We want to show the rakyat of Selangor, that the Selangor leadership wants to ensure the state is administered in a clean way, that is free of corruption or abuse of power,” said Dzulkifli.

 

Selangor is the only state government that has not signed up for the IBR.

 

According to Dzulkifli, the pledge has to be followed up by programmes, systems and procedures to ensure a graft-free administration.

 

“We’re not asking for anything (impossible), we’re just asking for the pledge.”

 

However, Dzulkifli expressed confidence and belief in the Selangor state government, stating “it’s not that they don’t want to” take the pledge.

 

“Maybe they want to find a suitable date, so we hope the date will come soon. There have been discussions… maybe the Mentri Besar is quite busy,” he added.

 

Asked if Azmin had been invited, Dzulkifli answered in the affirmative.

 

“Yes, we invited him. At the early stage, the Mentri Besar was supposed to attend this event.

 

"Maybe he has other meetings that are more important than issues of corruption and abuse of power,” he added.

 

The nationwide expedition, which departed from the commission’s headquarters in Putrajaya early Monday, aims to encourage the public to fight corruption and power abuse.

 

Tengku Indera Setia Selangor Tengku Ahmad Shah, who represented Selangor Ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, had officiated the state-level 50th anniversary celebrations.

 

Tengku Ahmad later flagged off the expedition to its second destination of Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan.

 

After a session with the people there and Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, the convoy will head to Malacca for a night programme with the Portuguese settlement residents.

 

On Tuesday evening, the expedition will be in Johor where the MACC football team will have a friendly match with Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) with the consent of Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim.