Anwar pans Bersih for calling MACC a ‘political tool’

2026-03-06 - 06:13

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim with personnel from the public service department in Putrajaya today. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has panned reform group Bersih for accusing the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) of allowing itself to be used as a political tool. Anwar said Bersih’s criticism was unfair and uncalled for, dismissing it as the NGO’s own view, Berita Harian reported. He added that the group should wait for the findings of the government’s special committee probing MACC chief Azam Baki before making such remarks. “That is Bersih’s view but it’s unfair for Bersih to make such a statement,” Anwar was quoted as saying. The prime minister added that the special committee probing Azam’s shareholding allegations is expected to submit a report on its findings to him today. Yesterday, Bersih said it was alarmed by MACC’s recent trajectory, and that the agency appeared to be increasingly diverting from its mandate of combating graft to becoming a political tool. This came after MACC issued a public search notice for James Chai, a former aide to former economy minister Rafizi Ramli, which Chai claimed painted him as a fugitive. Bersih called for Azam’s resignation as chief commissioner and for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to investigate the allegations against MACC. DAP had also called for an RCI to probe Azam’s shareholdings as well as allegations that certain MACC officers were involved corporate manoeuvres by providing intimidation “services” to force company takeovers. These allegations were made in a Bloomberg report which claimed that a network of businessmen and MACC officers used raids and investigations to pressure executives into selling shares in targeted companies. Another Bloomberg report claimed that Azam held 17.7 million shares in a company, allegedly breaching a 2024 government circular. MACC and Azam denied the allegations. Azam also sued Bloomberg over the shareholding report, seeking RM100 million in damages.