PH leaders march from Putrajaya Sentral to the MACC’s HQ, urging the graft-buster to probe allegations against 1MDB and show the public that it is indeed an independent body which truly fights graft.
PUTRAJAYA: Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders today served a chilling warning to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), as they urged the latter to open an investigation paper on embattled state-owned 1MDB.
“The MACC must remember that politicians come and politicians go. The MACC has to remember that if the government today is no longer in power, they’ll be in trouble,” said PKR parliamentary whip Johari Abdul.
“So it’s best for them to serve according to the laws. The question of whether anyone is guilty is the court’s duty to decide. But the MACC has a duty to investigate and prosecute.”
Johari, who is the Sungai Petani MP, was speaking to reporters outside the new MACC headquarters here this morning.
He, along with other PH leaders such as PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, PPBM vice-president Abdul Rashid Asari, and Amanah vice-president Mujahid Yusof Rawa, had earlier handed a memorandum to the MACC, urging it to look into the allegations surrounding 1MDB.
They had sent a similar memorandum to Bank Negara Malaysia just last week.
These come just a couple of months after the United States’ Department of Justice (DoJ) filed its second civil forfeiture suit, seeking to seize assets that were bought with money allegedly embezzled from 1MDB.
The DoJ had charged that from 2009 through 2015, more than US$4.5 billion (RM19 billion) belonging to 1MDB had been diverted by high-level officials and their associates.
According to Lim, while the “whole world” realised what a big scandal this is, the MACC has been “pretending” that no such problem exists.
He said the people were expecting to see the nation’s anti-graft agency acting on their behalf in ensuring corruption was combated, instead of being allowed to happen freely.
“We want the MACC to embark on a campaign that can repair our damaged reputation.
“It’s up to the government if they want to join, but I hope MACC leaders will decide if they want to clean our country’s name and the MACC’s, by launching an investigation into 1MDB.”
The DAP’s national publicity chief Tony Pua, who was also present, said the MACC should stop passing the buck to the police, and take the responsibility to investigate the DoJ’s allegations.
“We hope the MACC will probe the allegations of corruption, breach of trust, and abuse of power in 1MDB. We hope they won’t neglect their responsibility,” he said.
Meanwhile, Parti Warisan Sabah deputy president Darell Leiking said that this was a chance for MACC to show the public that it was independent in its action, and that it would prosecute when presented with enough evidence.
“Don’t practise selective prosecution. Be like out friends in the DoJ,” he said.
1MDB has denied any allegations of wrongdoing.