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PETALING JAYA: The appointment of the next chief commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will need the support of two-thirds of Parliament, according to the Federal Constitution.
In a radio interview today, MACC Chief Commissioner Azam Baki said that the cabinet also agreed that the dismissal of a MACC chief commissioner should go through a special tribunal.
He said this was decided during a recent special cabinet meeting on corruption, chaired by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
“This means that the services of the MACC chief commissioner cannot simply be terminated by Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the advice of the prime minister,” he said.
“We now see that the MACC has the full support of the current government in our efforts to implement anti-corruption measures effectively.”
Azam also confirmed that the Cabinet Special Committee on Anti-Corruption, chaired by Muhyiddin, agreed to segregate the hiring and firing of MACC staff through the establishment of a MACC Services Commission.
He said this would be done under the supervision of the Public Service Commission.
“Giving us the freedom to appoint and fire personnel through the commission itself is a better option. This will show the government’s transparency and allow the MACC the freedom to act.
He said that many corruption cases from 2015 to 2020 focused on public procurement, resulting in the loss of large amounts of government resources.
He said MACC investigations had revealed that many government agency officials had lied about procurement matters.
“For example, there was a case in Sabah at the time where the government implemented a water supply improvement project worth 1.5 billion ringgit. The information we received revealed that the real cost was only half that, ”he said.
Azam said that MACC’s tasks are now no longer just focused on enforcement, but also on increasing public awareness of the agency’s anti-corruption efforts.
“For each case investigated, we practice transparency, we will inform the public about the case,” he said.
“Currently, MACC is focused on the public interest and high-profile cases because these are the ones that have caused huge losses and monetary leakage.”
