Anwar questions PM’s Commitment
KOTA KINABALU:
Parti Keadilan Rakyat Adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has strongly questioned Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s commitment to rid the civil service of corruption. He said even the Prime Minister’s latest move to restructure the Anti- Corruption Agency (ACA) to step up the battle against graft by proposing to turn the Agency into a full-fledged commission is not convincing to the people. “The idea to transform the ACA into an independent body answerable to the Parliament is great, but it should have been done years ago since Abdullah took over the premiership from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad,” said Anwar yesterday. “Many are questioning the commitment of the Prime Minister in effectively combating corruption,” he told reporters at the end of his two-day visit to Sabah yesterday. Anwar cited a few major corruption allegations as example which he said were brushed aside without proper investigation. According to him, there is no need for the setting up of the Commission as the country has enough laws and mechanism that are already in place to address corruption, if they are optimally enforced. However, the Keadilan de facto leader said the Opposition Front would nevertheless support the establishment of the Commission, provided it is backed up with strong and good laws to ensure its effectiveness. “Malaysia is a fortunate country as it has a loyal Opposition in the Parliament to keep check on the decisions made by the Government legislators. “We will support (the setting up of the Commission) and we will monitor its implementation closely. Our stance is very objective to support what is good and never to stop questioning what is not,” he said.
