Place MACC under Parliament for independence and transparency, says Puad

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should come under Parliament to ensure proper checks and balances.

Umno supreme council member Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi said the appointment of the MACC chief commissioner should also be the prerogative of Parliament, and not through the advice of the Prime Minister to the King for Royal consent.

“The MACC cannot be seen as ‘invulnerable’ (until) there is no transparent method to act against allegations or internal misconduct concerning top officials.

“Placing the MACC under Parliament will ensure the process of checks and balances and make it independent and transparent.

“This is an institutional reform that needs to be fought for,” he said in a Facebook post on Monday (Jan 3).

Earlier, Puad had urged the Prime Minister to investigate accusations made by a professor against a top MACC official.

He said Prof Dr Edmund Terence Gomez’s sudden resignation from MACC’s Consultation and Corruption Prevention Panel had raised concerns about the commission’s integrity.

On the allegations, Puad said as expected, all parties were silent.

“It’s blowing hot and cold again. The rakyat are still waiting without a concrete solution," he added.

It was reported earlier that Gomez was appointed to the MACC panel last year. His term was due to end on May 31 but he quit last Monday (Dec 27).

He wrote to panel chairman Datuk Seri Borhan Dolah, saying that his resignation was in protest over what he felt was inaction against a top MACC official.

He alleged that the officer has an investment interest in a public-listed company.

Gomez noted that he had written to Borhan on Nov 12 and 26, including giving information that he had obtained about the alleged business links to the official's family.

However, Borhan was quoted in a news portal as saying that Gomez’s two emails made no mention of any wrongdoings by the senior official, adding that the professor had sought meetings to discuss ways of improving MACC’s image.