PETALING JAYA: Members of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Committee should be elected instead of being appointed by the government, said former committee member Tan Sri Robert Phang, adding that the committee should have one member from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), two legal representatives and three elected members.
“The elected members must be people of good standing. This is one of the ways to restore public trust in the agency. MACC must also be transparent in every action it takes to show the public that there is no bias when it carries out its duties.”
Phang said the MACC chief commissioner must be ready to explain to the committee the reasons for the commission's actions.
He added that the head of MACC should state reasons for his actions when asked by the committee, and elected members are needed to alleviate public distrust.
“In doing this, the public would feel that they also have to say in the way MACC is run,” he said.
Recently, certain actions by MACC had caused the public to question the reasons the agency had initiated certain investigations.
“When committee members are appointed by the government, there can always be an element of favouritism. They may try to help certain people associated with them.
“The committee may also be biased towards certain people while some committee members might just be afraid to speak out as they may fear repercussions.”
Phang said there was a need for outspoken committee members as they would be able to reign in the MACC head if he steps out of line, adding that the more outspoken the committee members, the better it would be as the agency would realize that it will be held to account by those who are part of it.
He said this would also make those in charge of MACC tread carefully and not just do whatever they wished, and this can be done if just three of the committee members are elected by the public, allowing the committee to act without fear or favour.
Phang added that decisions made by the committee should also be open to scrutiny, not only by Parliament but also by the public.
“Transparency and integrity should become the bywords in MACC and for the committee to show the public that they have nothing to hide when taking action. This would also help ensure fairness and rebuild public trust.”
He said it was also important for the public to speak out whenever they see any wrongdoing and that by having elected committee members, the public would feel protected by them when speaking out against wrongdoings.
Source:https://ipaper.thesundaily.my/epaper/viewer.aspx?publication=The%20Sun%20Daily#page/2
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