Nabbing corrupt officials should not be seasonal

CQ Muar: Spot on, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Dzulkifli Ahmad. We are encouraged over your commitment to haul up corrupt leaders, regardless which party wins the general election.

However, your statement sounded somewhat dubious. The question is, what about those leaders from BN, under the leadership of Najib Abdul Razak, should they lose? Of course, we admire your courage, but why only clamp down after the election?

We noted recently MACC has been swooping down and taking action against those Umno leaders and cronies who are generally considered ‘small fries’. Why isn’t MACC investigating those more significant and prominent BN leaders?

Bluntly, there have been many scandals involving Najib…why isn’t there any investigation being conducted against him?

Slumdog: Dzulkifli has pledged to haul up corrupt politicians. In that case, he should start with MO1 (Malaysian Official 1) immediately and work his way down the whole ministry who are all complicit with MO1 in the RM2.6 billion scandal.

By the way Dzulkifli, if it becomes election fodder, it is not your problem, not your concern and not your responsibility. You just do your job.

Don’t abrogate your responsibilities just because of what may happen to a politician’s chance of winning GE14.

Don’t be like your predecessor who didn’t see anything, didn’t hear anything, said nothing, and eventually did nothing.

Anonymous 2436471476414726: Catching corrupt politicians and officials should not be seasonal like the weather. As and when MACC have sufficient evidence of wrongdoing, it must act immediately, election or no election.

MACC will only redeem itself if it takes action against the perpetrators of the biggest financial scandal that the whole world is already aware of.

A lot of evidence had been gathered. The only question is whether or not MACC has the guts to do so. Otherwise don’t talk big, just keep catching the ikan bilis.

Kim Quek: Shouldn’t the anti-corruption body of a country act independently and fearlessly at all times irrespective of the culprit’s position?

If so, why the MACC chief be talking about “before election” and “after election”, or about politicians and non-politicians?

Dzulkifli, your declared intention not to act against politicians until after election to avoid meddling in politics sounds like an excuse for your long overdue action to net in the big fishes whose notoriety is on everyone’s lips, including those overseas.

You said you want MACC to be respected and admired. Then act now (not after the election, which is none of your business), irrespective of the person’s position (even the prime minister), and you will be applauded.

You also said you want to make a strong statement against election corrupt practices when parliament is dissolved for election. Good. Then please follow up your words with actions.

MACC under your predecessors have not only failed to nab a single culprit amid rampant election corruption, but also openly justified bribery of the electorate with lame excuses.

Dzulkifli, let’s see you stamp your mark on MACC in the coming general election with brave actions to restore some decency to an electoral system seemingly badly mauled by fraud and malpractices.

Hardboiled: MACC will only be respected and admired when it starts to respect the office first and the person in it second. No one will believe MACC is true to its cause until such a time that MO1 is investigated.

Quite simply, if any public servant received RM42 million – and it really doesn’t matter where from – in his personal bank account, is that not just cause for an investigation?

Anonymous Hotplate: Dzulkifli, are you a man of words? If so, you would have acted long ago on the high-profile Umno leader who had put the country into shame throughout the world, but no one dare touch this man as he is considered “not a public officer” in our Malaysian court.

Drngsc: Yes, you talk big, Dzulkifli. The elephant in the room is 1MDB. As long as you dare not touch MO1, none of us will believe you.

If you mean what you said, go investigate 1MDB and ask MO1 to explain from the beginning what happened. Let us see if you dare.

P Dev Anand Pillai: What a load of nonsense. What clean leaders is Dzulkifli talking about? It is filth right up to the top.

If you want MACC to be respected, get the alleged murderers who in your midst first. Remember Teoh Beng Hock and Ahmad Sarbaini (both of whom died while being interrogated by MACC officers)?

As long as your powers are still within the purview of the office of the ‘supreme leader’, there is nothing much that you can do.

Anonymous #13114320: You call arresting these secretaries or assistants high-ranking officers? For all we know, the only high-ranking officer you have arrested is Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

There isn’t any minister rank from the government that you have nabbed even though their incomes are suspicious along with big cars and houses.

So, you have to wait for those ministers to drop out from office or lose badly in the election to arrest them? Maybe you only arrest those BN officers that had seemingly fallen out with your alleged master?

Gaji Buta: So, it is better to allow the people to vote an alleged crook, when the situation can be avoided?

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