KUALA LUMPUR (July 1): Five members of Parliament (MPs) have renewed calls on the government to publicly disclose its probe findings into former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki’s shareholdings.
Two such investigations have taken place, yet none of their findings have been made public, the lawmakers said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We call for all investigations conducted by the Madani Government into Azam’s shareholdings to be publicly disclosed.
“These reports should be released to the public or, at minimum, submitted to a parliamentary committee for further review and scrutiny,” they said.
The MPs, who included Subang MP Wong Chen and Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim, also called for the disclosure of the status of the two investigation papers involving Azam that were forwarded to the Attorney General’s Chambers.
The other MPs were Kesavan Subramaniam (Sungai Siput), Rodziah Ismail (Ampang) and Lee Chean Chung (Petaling Jaya).
Beyond the probe disclosures, the MPs echoed the call of 51 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on Tuesday (June 30) for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into Azam’s shareholding matter, as well as allegations of the alleged “corporate mafia”.
They urged all MPs to publicly state their stance on the RCI and noted that if 51% of MPs support the RCI, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be obligated to recommend an RCI to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
“We appreciate and wish to also highlight the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s zero-tolerance stance against corruption,” they added.
Azam was embroiled in controversy earlier this year following Bloomberg reports on his shareholding in financial services firm Velocity Capital Partner Bhd (KL:VELOCITY), which allegedly breached civil service shareholding rules. He has denied any wrongdoing.
A three-member task force led by Attorney General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar was formed to investigate the matter and submitted its findings to the Cabinet. The report, however, has not been made public and no action has been announced.
Azam retired as MACC chief on May 13 after his contract was not extended.