Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail should reveal the number of unresolved police and the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) investigation papers that are pending prosecution.

DAP secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock said it would be unfair for the police and the ACA to be publicly blamed for any delay caused by the AG's Chambers.

"I was told that the ACA normally sets a time-frame of three months to complete investigations before submitting (the papers) to the AG's Chambers for a decision," he said in a statement.

Kerk said the agency only learns about the outcome of its investigations when informed by the AG.

Earlier this week, the ACA announced several measures to counter serious concerns about transparency, including updating complainants on the status of its investigations.

Late last month, Bernama quoted Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as saying that corruption can no longer be tolerated and should be eradicated.

He was responding to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's remarks the previous day when he had called on all Malaysians to avoid corruption or risk losing the country.

Prohibition in law

Kerk, however, pointed out the irony of such high-powered calls for transparency in light of Section 21(4) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997.

The provision prohibits the disclosure of any related information once a complaint has been lodged with the agency, until the case goes to court.

"(In fact,) the government itself has used this section to avoid giving even the least bit of information in its parliamentary replies," said Kerk.

"Obviously, the clause - which is basically intended to prevent any disclosure that may allow the suspect the opportunity of destroying any evidence - has been used to avoid revealing the nature of allegations and the status of investigations," he said.

He also referred to several queries he had raised in Parliament, including on the progress of a police report lodged against a Johor Barisan Nasional (BN) elected representative for alleged criminal breach of trust.

"The answer given was that investigation papers had been sent to the AG's Chambers. Since then, no one knows the outcome, " Kerk said.

He said he had also asked about the number of Malacca politicians who were under investigation by the ACA and the types of allegations against them.

"The reply mentioned that investigations were still being carried out against three politicians, a fact that was already reported in the print media... no other details were given on grounds of Section 21(4)."

Kerk said the only way to ensure that the public is kept updated on the status of ACA investigations is to amend the clause during the next session of Parliament in September.

"This will allow the ACA to shed some light on complaints, especially involving public fund mismanagement or misappropriation by politicians and government servants," he added.

'Change political culture'

Meanwhile, DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang accused the BN government of playing with rhetoric and not being committed to a new political culture.

"No serious student of Malaysian politics and public affairs would believe that Umno and BN leaders would ever agree to tighten laws to ensure greater transparency or to effectively combat corruption," he said in a separate statement.

"(This is because) they are not committed to a new culture of political integrity and zero tolerance for corruption by politicians."

Over the last few weeks, a volley of statements have followed the calls for greater transparency, after Umno elected representatives were chided for flaunting their wealth and prompting a suggestion for election candidates to declare their assets.

Lim said a law requiring election candidates to publicly declare their assets would be an important step to monitor the integrity of political leaders to ascertain whether "they have used politics as a passport for personal enrichment instead of public service".

Responding to Umno vice-president Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin's remark about existing laws being adequate to deal with corrupt politicians, he said Muhyiddin was not only wrong but also guilty of deliberately trying to confuse the issue.

He said that, at present, corrupt politicians "enjoyed immunity from meaningful investigation from a toothless ACA and the prosecution".

Lim alleged that many ministers, chief ministers, menteris besar, state ministers or exco members would not remain unscathed if the ACA were to launch a no-holds-barred crackdown.