The SunThe Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Bill is insufficient to protect potential whistleblowers and witnesses, Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin said.
Such an act was necessary to ensure that those reporting felt safe to come forward. “The acts can be separate, one for whistleblowers and one for witnesses. Both are different but they can also be merged,” he said.
Khairy said there should be a fair composition on the Special Committee on Corruption to retain public confidence in the commission.
“I hope that through convention, we will see a representation (on the MACC Special Committee) that is proportionate to the representation in the Dewan Rakyat,” he said.
“If this is not done, the rakyat will question the committee and the commission because we set this commission up to show that the government is sincere in eradicating corruption. So, once you have set up this commission, I do not think that the government will want to see it fail just because of the membership of the committee,” he said.
He said it would be “irresponsible” if the composition of the committee caused the commission to lose credibility.
“It is imperative for the government to recommend to the prime minister and the King that the membership is at least proportionate, or has a meaningful representation, by the Opposition,” he said, describing the current mix of powers between Parliament and the executive “the best of both worlds”.
“I think what you have for now is a hybrid, where it is not entirely under executive control, and it is not entirely under parliamentary control either. What you have now is you have evolved the ACA from being a creature of the executive to one that has parliamentary oversight,” he said.
“So, maybe, instead of going all the way towards parliamentary jurisdiction, you have a balance between executive responsibility over the commission and parliamentary oversight.”
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