Opposition told not to make MACC a political ball

PUTRAJAYA - Chairman of the corruption prevention panel of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MAAC), Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, is asking opposition leaders not to make the MACC their "political ball"."Their suggestion to cut RM10 from the salary of the MACC chief commissioner is unfair as the MACC is not their political opponent," he told Bernama, here, Wednesday.
Based on the democratic practice, he said, it was not right for the opposition leaders to suggest that as the MACC could not defend itself, instead these opposition leaders should assist the commission to fight corruption."It (fighting corruption) is the duty of every Malaysian and not the MACC or government alone to prevent the country from being destroyed by corruption."

Navaratman added that it would be better for the opposition to channel information on corrupt practices that they knew about to the MACC until investigation was initiated and action taken against the culprits.He believed the opposition could cooperate with MACC on the principle of "loyalty to the nation".

"It is fairer to criticise the MACC if it fails to investigate and take action after information has been given to it," he said following the motion by DAP national adviser Lim Kit Siang on a salary cut for the MACC chief during the Dewan Rakyat sitting yesterday.

Lim made the motion based on the Corruption Perception Index from Transparency International Malaysia which shows Malaysia's poor performance among Asia-Pacific countries in the last 16 years.Navaratnam said the opposition should not be playing up the issue as the MACC faced the problem of witnesses changing their testimony during court hearings.

Source : http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/2010/11/opposition-told-not-to-make-macc.html