Member of Parliament for Muar Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman feels the Anwar administration, like the Muhyiddin government, is using the MACC to go after political rivals.
The former youth and sports minister is appealing against a conviction for corruption offences, including abetting a former Bersatu official in misappropriating RM1 million for the party’s youth wing.
Syed Saddiq claims he was sacked from Bersatu in 2020 because he did not back the Muhyiddin-led government. He was charged with the offences when Muhyiddin was premier.
“They (the Anwar administration) are going on the offensive by portraying their political opponents as corrupt as well, hoping that the public will then say, ‘There’s corruption on both sides, so let’s just move forward,’” he said.
Syed Saddiq stressed that it is crucial for Malaysia – which aspires to be a developed country – to have “strong democratic institutions” that will outlast any government or political personality.
“The problem in Malaysia is that while we are a nascent democracy, our institutions are still not fully independent,” he added.
“JUSTIFIED” MACC CAMPAIGN
Still, Dr Gomez said the MACC campaign was justified as there seems to be more than enough evidence – including from the Pandora Papers – to suggest these individuals should be investigated.
“Prosecutions will happen if the MACC gets enough to go on,” he added.
DAP’s Dr Ong said a perception that these investigations are only for show and will not be prosecuted might “not be necessarily correct” as other high-profile corruption cases, like the one involving Najib, led to a conviction.
“Given the resources available to these individuals, their cases may be tied up in court proceedings for a long period of time,” he said.
“The legal process, including the court declarations about the assets of some of these individuals, will also probably tarnish the public image of some of these individuals.”
The concern, he said, is that such graft investigations with a political tint will lead to “tit-for-tat” actions against those who are currently in power if the opposition wins at the next general election.
“There will be a cycle of political payback whenever there is a change in government and it may distract from the more important agenda of putting in place substantive institutional reforms which are necessary for long-term improvement in governance structures in the country,” he added.
Beyond that, policy and institutional changes can help address accusations of politically motivated probes, observers say.
The government’s new national anti-graft strategy involves financial incentives for whistleblowers and education in schools.
The strategy has five main categories of measures – education, public accountability, the people’s voice, enforcement, and incentives – and covers risk areas like political governance and public procurement.
