KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — The Malaysian branch of Transparency International (TI-M) will hold an EGM soon to elect new office-bearers and resolve its leadership crisis, caused in part by investigations into the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.
The graft watchdog’s president Datuk Paul Low quit last week.
Low, who leads a task force investigating the PKFZ scandal, resigned over the Global Corruption Report 2009 (GCR 2009) which highlighted the case.
Low said he accepted full responsibility for releasing the GCR 2009 report, which TI-M said had garnered different interpretations and views including charges of conflict of interest.
Yesterday, the TI-M executive council met under acting president Datuk Mohamed Iqbal and agreed to hold an EGM.
“The exco has agreed to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting as soon as possible to address the issues and if necessary to step down, thus providing the opportunity for the members to elect a new exco,” he said in a statement this morning.
Low had been facing growing criticism for some time now.
Earlier this year, he was forced to openly quit as an MCA life member after his membership in the political party was made known publicly.
His appointment to the Port Klang Authority ad-hoc committee on governance led to accusations of a conflict of interest when he released the graft watchdog’s annual corruption report.
The final straw was the threat of a lawsuit against TI-M over the release of the report published by the international anti-graft watchdog based in Berlin, which is said to have highlighted the multi-billion Ringgit PKFZ scandal.
Low, who led the Port Klang Authority ad-hoc committee on governance, had been hauled up by some of his colleagues for failing to consult them on the report before its release.
Despite the criticisms, he has stood by TI’s analysis, which he described to be “an accurate assessment.”
Mohamed, the acting president, said today that the public statements and media coverage in recent weeks had resulted a number of allegations over, as well as aspersions cast on, the exemplary work of TI-M fighting corruption in this country.
“It is important to note that the GCR is an annual assessment of the state of corruption around the world with a yearly thematic focus, which in 2009 was devoted to the private sector.
“TI-Malaysia and the international secretariat of Transparency International based in Berlin confirm that the Malaysia country report is accurate,” he said.
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