When govt ‘hands are tied’
(The Sun Daily) – “Najib has no direct authority to order Taib to step down. It (the decision to resign) depends on him (Taib) alone.”
The government’s hands are tied when faced with the moral predicament of asking elected leaders to vacate their post while under investigation for graft-related charges, said Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) president Datuk Paul Low.
Low noted that this is the “political reality” in Malaysia as compared to the ideal situation of an elected leader voluntarily stepping down to facilitate investigations.
As an example, he cited recent reports of Indonesia’s Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum’s decision to resign from his position last month after being named by the republic’s anti-graft body as a suspect in a case involving the construction of a multimillion-dollar sports complex in the city of Bogor, West Java.
Indonesian media had also reported that all Democratic Party officials had, prior to Anas’ resignation, signed an “integrity pact” to give up their posts if named as a corruption suspect similar to a mechanism introduced by TI-M and signed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak recently.
Low said that unlike the situation in Indonesia, there is no written legislation or moral compulsion for any person holding office in Malaysia to take such steps as in the most recent case involving an ongoing probe by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) against Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud based on a recent video exposed by London-based NGO Global Witness.
The video, which has been making its rounds on social media since last week, allegedly showed members of Taib’s family explaining to a “foreign investor” the mechanisms to circumvent existing laws to obtain logging licences and how to profit from such deals.
The licences are issued by Sarawak’s Ministry of Resource Planning and Environment which is headed by Taib.
“In Indonesia, the lawmaker involved (Anas) reports directly to the president. In this case (Sarawak), the chief minister (Taib) is not appointed by the prime minister (Najib), but by the people who voted for him.
“Therefore, Najib has no direct authority to order Taib to step down. It (the decision to resign) depends on him (Taib) alone,” Low told theSun.
Taib, in response to the video, had reportedly denied all allegations against him, insisting instead that he was “framed” by quarters who may be out to tarnish his reputation and implicate his family members who were featured in the 16-minute clip.
During a press conference at TI-M’s headquarters here yesterday, Low also called for the Sarawak state government to initiate an independent probe into the allegations raised and for its findings to be made public.
