KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) MPs demanded today that a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) be formed to probe allegations of a “third party” exerting pressure on the police force.The Home Ministry revealed yesterday that it did not intend to investigate Tan Sri Musa Hassan’s claims of “third party meddling” in police affairs.
Musa, who is the former Inspector-General of Police, had alleged excessive interference by “third parties” in police business, naming the home ministry among others.
PR lawmakers, however, remained unconvinced with Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin’s reply.
They said that the dismissal of Musa’s claims by the ministry was “unbecoming” as the allegations were made by the country’s former top cop.
“It’s a complete mockery for the Home Ministry to make light of this situation. An independent commission must be set up to investigate his claims. Although this may sound redundant, but the best option now would be to set up a RCI,” said DAP’s Tony Pua.
The DAP national publicity secretary told The Malaysian Insider that the ministry’s reply indicated that they doubt Musa’s credibility.
“This essentially means that the Home Ministry is saying that the former IGP’s claims are not credible, that the IGP is likely to be lying, and does not warrant further investigation.
“This man was an IGP. Of course his allegations warrants investigation. One of the highest ranking officers has claimed interference within the police force,” said Pua.
PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub echoed Pua’s remarks, saying that the ministry cannot afford to just “dismiss” the issue.
“I strongly support the suggestions for a royal commission of inquiry, and I will personally be taking the matter up in Parliament,” Salahuddin told The Malaysian Insider.
Another alternative, according to the Kubang Kerian MP was to set up a “bi-partisan” caucus to look into Musa’s claims.
“A bi-partisan caucus should also be formed to pressure the authorities to investigate the matter,” he said.
PKR MP Datuk Johari Abdul said that Musa’s claims should be taken lightly as there were “definitely” some element of truth to it.
“Maybe the Minister is taking this lightly, but this is an issue which involves national security. At the end of the day, Musa has admitted experiencing difficulties in discharging his duties as IGP.
“We want to know what’s happening. Who is this third force? Why are they given the power to meddle with police matters? To what extent is this interference? [Has been] interference [in] any high-profile cases?
“We are talking about the issue of national security here,” the Sungai Petani MP told The Malaysian Insider.
In a written reply yesterday to Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng, Hishammuddin said that the ministry did not plan to take any action on Musa’s claims.
“At this present time the Home Ministry does not plan to investigate the claims of the former IGP about third party interference in the police force.
“The ministry is also not planning to take any action on the claims,” said the written reply.
The reply did not state the reasons for not investigating Musa’s allegations.
The home ministry has consistently denied it had meddled in any police matters, saying that its involvement with the police was limited to weekly meetings with the force to discuss resource allocations and to review case files.
Following Musa’s allegations, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers had urged the top cop to lodge reports with an ombudsman, the Public Complaints Bureau and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to eradicate such problems from the police force.
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