MONITOR SELANGOR, MACC URGED

Anti-graft body should keep an eye on parties that refuse to sign pledge

THE Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should keep an eye on those who refuse to sign the corruption-free pledge.

Economics professor Dr Hoo Ke Ping said this included the Selangor government that had resisted attempts by the MACC to get the opposition-led government to do so.

“MACC should pay closer attention to Selangor and any agency or party that refuses to sign the pledge,” he said.

Hoo was responding to former Selangor MACC director Datuk Wan Ramli Wan Abdullah who said his only regret during his one-year tenure was his inability to get Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali to get the state to embrace the pledge.

Other opposition-held states such as Penang and Kelantan have made the pledge.

Universiti Sains Malaysia political analyst Professor Dr Sivamurugan Pandian urged the Selangor government to sign the corruption-free pledge to show its leadership’s commitment to fight graft.

“Their failure to do so will be seen as a failure in promoting a clean administration and reducing money politics.

“This may mean that they do not want to bend to MACC, thus creating negative assumptions, but it shouldn’t be an issue unless they have a different view of MACC’s principles to fight corruption.”

Former Transparency International Malaysia president Tan Sri Dr Ramon Navaratnam said the people would decide whether Selangor was right to abstain from signing and if the statement was warranted.

Asked if this would affect the outcome of the elections, he said that too, was in the people’s court.