MACC wants more power
(Bernama) – The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) wants additional powers to compel anyone to declare their assets without the need to prove an element of corruption.
To that end, it has submitted a proposal to the government to amend Section 36 of the MACC Act 2009 to empower the commission with such legal authority.
MACC chief Abu Kassim Mohamed said a Special Committee on Corruption had put together the proposal and he wants the government to give it serious consideration.
He said currently the commission does not have any legal provision to compel a person to declare his or her assets without any investigation on a corruption allegation against the person.
Abu Kassim was speaking to more than 30 editors from various media agencies at a MACC management-level dialogue at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Academy, here, yesterday.
“The initiative, if implemented, would impact positively on the government and would enhance the people’s confidence in the MACC,” he said, adding that the recommendation had been made in the committee’s annual report in 2011.
The special committee, comprising MPs from the government and opposition is one of five special panels set up in January 2009 as a check and balance mechanism on the MACC.
The four other panels are the Anti-Corruption Advisory Board, the Complaints Committee, the Operations Review Panel, and the Corruption Consultation and Prevention Panel.
Abu Kassim said the Special Committee on Corruption would also propose to the government to find the best mechanism, be it from the legal or procedural aspect, to resolve the ‘legally right morally wrong’ issue.
In this regard, he said the MACC needed the overall support of all parties, besides new and more effective provisions to combat corruption in the country.
Abu Kassim said without such overall support and more effective legal provisions, the fight against corruption would not have the far-reaching impact expected by the people.
“We must be in it together, regardless of political ideology, because corruption is a crime. If the law is insufficient we must make amendments, we must support,” he said.
