Gerakan agrees with the recommendation that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should be answerable only to Parliament, instead of the Prime Minister's Department.

NONE The party's vice-president Mah Siew Keong ( right ) said the recommendation by the Special Committee on Corruption (SCC) was only "logical" as the purpose of having the MACC is to check and prosecute corruption in both the government and private sector.

It is only logical that the commission should be separated from the government in order to ensure its independence, he added.

“It should not be under any department at all, it should be solely independent on its own without being linked to any governmental department," said Mah in a statement.

"Any doubt on the conflict of interest of MACC is sufficient to put the credibility of the commission in question, what more the outcome of any investigation,” he added.

'Prosecute big fishes'

Other than the SCC's recommendation, Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) has concluded that the federal government's efforts to stamp out graft have failed to stop the country from sliding down its global corruption perception index (CPI) because of its failure to act on "grand corruption".

TI-M has made eight recommendations to fight corruption: prosecute the 'big fishes'; introduce a Freedom of Information Bill; enhance the autonomy of MACC; improve protective framework for whistleblowers; impose stiffer penalties for corruption conviction; fully implement the 'Integrity Pact' in procurements; reform political financing; and implement electoral reforms made by the Parliamentary Select Committee.

Mah added that public perception is very important to ensure the effectiveness and independence of MACC.

He urged the government to look into the issue of MACC’s independence closely as the commission is one of the most important tools to battle corruption in the country.  

"If the MACC is unable to function at its best, it would be a major pullback in the effort to battle corruption," he said.  

It is only logical that the commission should be separated from the government in order to ensure its independence, he added.