SHAH ALAM, 11 Nov: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should be given the power to prosecute in order to balance actions or decisions by the Attorney-General’s Office, which appears to have lost its credibility.
PKR Deputy President, Azmin Ali, said that the Attorney-General’s (AG) failure in handling big cases such as the murder of a Mongolian national, Altantuya Shaariibuu, and the fraud case involving the former Transport Minister, Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik, requires for a check-and-balance body.
He said that the MACC will take over prosecution to ensure that cases are strong and solid enough to be submitted to court when the Attorney-General’s Department fails to do so.
“Unlike now, when within the system, a person can determine whether a case should be brought before a court or not and whether an appeal should be made or otherwise. Therefore, we need the MACC for the purpose of check-and-balance,” he said when met here recently.
He said this when asked to comment on the statement issued by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (JPM), Datuk Razali Ibrahim, that the government will not give the MACC power to prosecute because it can lead to abuse of power.
Azmin, who is also the Member of Parliament for Gombak, said that the statement is baseless and irresponsible. He also stressed that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will continue to urge for the MACC to be given the power to prosecute in efforts to uphold justice in Malaysia.
“The list of the Attorney-General’s failures clearly shows that the agency can no longer be relied on to produce strong prosecution in court.
“The government should seriously look into this proposal, which is to give the MACC power to prosecute, if Barisan Nasional and Umno are truly sincere in upholding the rule of law,” he said.
