Ezam slams Kok for defending ex-1MDB chairman’s appointment
KUALA LUMPUR: Former senator Datuk Mohamad Ezam Mohd Noor is sticking to his guns in criticising the appointment of a former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) chairman as the head of another government agency, after Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok defended the move.
Calling Kok’s faith in Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh as arrogant, Ezam said this was unwise coming from a minister who was part of a government that was advocating reforms and changes.
“How can a minister make that kind of a conclusion when the government she is part of is still investigating the 1MDB scandal and the process of justice has not been concluded?
“Did the minister ask Bakke if he had made an official complaint with the authorities regarding the problems in 1MDB? This is a necessary move from the perspective of law and morality, for someone who wishes to defend (another person’s) integrity.”
Ezam, the chairman of Hisbah Malaysia, a non-governmental organisation, had said the appointment of Bakke as chairman of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) was a “wrong decision”, citing the latter once headed the scandal-plagued 1MDB.
In response, Kok said Bakke quit 1MDB due to improprieties in the company, where controversial money transfers were kept out of the knowledge of the strategic development company’s board of directors.
Kok described Bakke as a man of integrity and a respected corporate figure with experience in the palm oil industry.
Ezam claimed that Kok’s defence of Bakke could interfere with the legal action taken by other Malaysians, citing his own civil suit against former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and 1MDB.
Kok, in defending Bakke’s appointment, had said the latter had openly expressed his disagreement over the dealings of 1MDB when testifying during Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearings in 2016, as reported in the media.
Ezam said it was premature and questionable for a minister to arrive at such a conclusion based on media reports.
“What about a news report, dated February 2016, quoting Bakke as making a statement in line with what Najib said that the RM2.6 billion was not from 1MDB and that Bakke himself had warned of legal action against anyone who claimed otherwise?”