WHEN the Pakatan Harapan government was formed after the election it had to deliver on its promises. Among urban and urbane circles, the most widely anticipated was official investigations into the purported wrongdoings of government leaders, departments, agencies and companies such as Felda, Mara, Tabung Haji and 1MDB. Earlier, there was already concerted foreign and local reporting of the financial mismanagement and misappropriation of funds. The rakyat were led to believe they had been cheated.
In the direct line of probes by enforcement agencies and official task forces were the heads and management teams of these agencies and companies.
The very reason why Pakatan Harapan parties raked in votes to topple the previous government was their battle cry against the kleptocracy and corruption of Barisan Nasional leaders. To be seen as serious, their playing field must be strewn with politicians and heads of government departments and agencies purported to have abused their positions.
Thus we saw the quick establishment of special councils such as the Council of Eminent Persons, Institutional Reforms Committee and their working teams to lead government-sanctioned research and investigations for the purpose of advising the prime minister and his Cabinet on the appropriate line of action to take within the first 100 days. Thus we saw the axing of many heads among the top professionals in the civil service and government corporations plus some 17,000 political appointees. And the purge continues with daily reports of financial scandals.
Zooming in on just one of the criminal acts, namely bribery and corruption that is being rigorously uncovered by the MACC, key questions are: If those charged are the takers, who are the givers? If the takers are being charged, why are the givers not being prosecuted? If there are thieves among those who have stolen the rakyat’s money, might not there be their cohorts, ie the masterminds, hiding in the darkness of the underworld?
Corruption is a two-way phenomenon of there being the gullible and corruptible comprising the takers, and there being the truly criminal and conniving comprising the givers. The bribery process involves the giver handing inducements to the taker. The question of who or what comes first is moot. Both parties are committing crimes and must be prosecuted.
For the MACC to be credible, it must investigate all parties reported to be guilty of corruption, that is both the givers of bribes and inducements and their takers. They must pursue the givers as they are persecuting and prosecuting the takers. So far this crucial balance has not been achieved. Equally accountable is the attorney general and his chambers in determining who and which cases are, in the end, worthy of being brought to book. Unless the public sees fairness and balance in the anti-corruption drive, we will not be convinced that these agencies are acting on behalf of a just government.
It is the rakyat’s hope that the government delivers our hopes of a Malaysia that is truly democratic, fair and just. Let it not be said that all too soon, our sense of security is being torn apart by government decisions and actions that are biased and unfair.
Datuk Halimah Mohd Said
Kuala Lumpur
