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Puchong MP: Will PM revamp MACC and PDRM?

Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo said whenever a PDRM officer is charged with corruption, MACC chief Datuk Seri Azam Baki says the matter will be handled internally. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa
Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo said whenever a PDRM officer is charged with corruption, MACC chief Datuk Seri Azam Baki says the matter will be handled internally. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 — Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo questioned today if Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has the political will to overhaul the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), following a series of corruption scandals.

Gobind said whenever a PDRM officer is charged with corruption, MACC chief Datuk Seri Azam Baki says the matter will be handled internally.

He then asked if the case of the three senior MACC officers reportedly detained to assist investigations into allegations of abuse of power and misconduct in connection with the case of a former head of department of the commission would also be handled internally.

“Former Malaysian External Intelligence Organisation Hasanah Abdul Hamid was accused in 2018 of corruption. Then in April 2021, charges against her were dropped in the case where US$6 million went missing.

“The attorney general decided not to pursue the case, which was brought up by MACC. So what happened to the money? Yesterday, we heard this money went missing and was already used. This is money brought to Court as evidence and is now missing.

“Today, MACC confirmed the arrest of three officers for abuse of power and to help with investigations into the same case. Why aren’t the police handling this case when it is a theft? Theft is not under MACC’s purview, especially when MACC officers are involved,” Gobind said in Parliament today.

“How can we have the same agency investigating itself?

“This government has been talking and saying they are reformists. If you are, then prove it now. If you really are reformists, then do something to sort out this mess as soon as possible. If you don’t, you are the same as the failed government before you.”

Gobind reminded the House that former inspector-general of police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador had mentioned the existence of a cartel within the police force, over which no action appears to have been taken to this day.

Abdul Hamid retired in March 2021.

He also said the public will continue to lose trust in the MACC and its ability to fight corruption because it has not made any information public regarding any investigations.

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