IN FOCUS: What’s fuelling Malaysia’s anti-corruption drive, and how might it all end?

Member of Parliament for Muar Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman feels the Anwar leadership, like the Muhyiddin state, is using the MACC to go after political adversaries.

The former minister of youth and sports is contesting a conviction for corruption, including aiding a previous Bersatu official in stealing$ 1 million for the group’s children aircraft.

Syed Saddiq says that he was fired from Bersatu in 2020 because he did not support the Muhyiddin-led state. When Muhyiddin was in power, he was accused of the crimes. &nbsp,

” They ( the Anwar management ) are going on the offensive by portraying their political opponents as corrupt as well, hoping that the public may then say,’ There’s problem on both sides, so let’s just move forwards,'” he said.

Syed Saddiq argued that” strong political organizations” must exist for Malaysia to outlive any government or political figure.

” The difficulty in Malaysia is that while we are a budding politics, our institutions are still not entirely independent”, he added.

“JUSTIFIED” MACC CAMPAIGN

Dr. Gomez argued that the MACC battle was justified because more than enough information, including from the Pandora Papers, appears to support the investigation of these people.

If the MACC has enough to go on, he continued,” Trials did occur.”

As with other high-profile corruption cases, such as the one involving Najib, Dr. Ong said, it might” not be necessarily correct” that the perception that these investigations are only for show and wo n’t be prosecuted is true.

These individuals ‘ cases may get tangled up in court proceedings for a long time, he said,” Given the resources available to them.”

” The legal process, including the jury statements about the property of some of these individuals, will furthermore probably destroy the public image of some of these people”.

He claimed that if the opposition wins the next general election, for graft investigations with a democratic tint may lead to “tit-for-tat” actions against those in power.

Every time there is a change in government, there will be a period of political payback, he added, which could detract from the more crucial goal of implementing meaningful institutional reforms that are required for a nation’s long-term improvement in governance structures.

According to observers, policy and administrative adjustments can address allegations of politically motivated investigations beyond that.

Financial subsidies for reporters and education in schools are included in the government’s new federal anti-graft plan.

The technique has five major categories of measures- schooling, people accountability, the people’s voice, enforcement, and incentives- and covers risk areas like democratic governance and open procurement.