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The Star - April 22, 2008
Move to set up MCAC seen as
major breakthrough
KUALA LUMPUR: The setting-up of the independent
Malaysian Commission on Anti-Corruption (MCAC) is a
major breakthrough and shows the Prime Minister’s
seriousness in fighting corruption, said Transparency
International (Malaysia) president Tan Sri Ramon
Navaratnam.
“I’m impressed. Pak Lah has gone beyond my expectations.
I did not expect a parliamentary committee set up,” he
said yesterday.
“No doubt Pak Lah has shown great political will in
getting this matter across which has been the aspiration
of the rakyat.”
Navaratnam said that with three levels – the commission,
the advisory board and the parliamentary committee – it
would be very exciting to see how it operates.
“It will without doubt increase transparency and enhance
integrity of the whole system,” he said, adding that the
reforms would remove public perception that the
Anti-Corruption Agency was not independent.
He believed MCAC would work provided the right people
were in it.
Navaratnam said it was important for the parliamentary
committee to comprise both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan
Rakyat MPs.
“Ultimately, the Prime Minister cannot stop anything or
interfere because MCAC is subject to scrutiny and
answerable to parliament,” he said.
He also applauded the move to give MCAC the power to
hire and fire and set up its term of services and
remuneration for its officers.
He said the anti-corruption reforms coming just days
after reforms in the judiciary encouraged the public to
believe that the “Government means business in wanting
reforms” and to strengthen institutions that had been
weakened over the years.
MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting, who also welcomed
the change, said MCA wished to see the performance of
the ACA strengthened, and a new political will being
forged to ensure the independence of the agency truly
upheld.
“We want the rakyat to understand that the Barisan
Nasional Government is serious about tackling corruption
in the country, both in the public and private sectors,”
he said in a statement issued yesterday.
The Civil Movement against Corruption (Gerak) called the
setting-up of the MCAC a pivotal move.
Its chairman Mohamad Ezam Mohd Nor said the decision was
one of the “most-significant moves ever taken by the
government in ensuring reforms.
DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang in a statement said he hoped
the new commission would not end up like Suhakam “that
is tasked to be an independent body to protect and
promote human rights, but is completely unable to do so
without the necessary powers and means”.
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