SHAH ALAM - The Madani Government needs to expedite the implementation of reforms in the country's judiciary and legal institutions to dispel allegations of interference by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in several investigations and prosecutions involving former prime ministers and opposition leaders.
Ledang Member of Parliament from PKR, Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, said that to realise this goal, the unity government must promptly implement the proposal to separate the powers of the Attorney General and Public Prosecutor.
He emphasised that the step was crucial to dispel allegations that the government was trying to create selective prosecutions against opposition leaders on grounds of political revenge.
"There is a perception created by certain parties that the Prime Minister is trying to carry out political revenge against his political enemies by revisiting old cases related to corruption during the administration of the previous government.
"I believe that rhetoric and negative perceptions like this need to be set aside because the unity government is committed to proving that we walk the talk in efforts to uphold the Rule of Law and combat corruption," he told Sinar Premium on Monday.
He added that it was undeniable that the perception that the government was selective and carried out selective prosecutions was somewhat difficult to manage.
"However, if immediate reforms in the judiciary and legal institutions, especially involving the separation of powers of the Attorney General and Public Prosecutor, are carried out, I am confident that the government's propaganda of seeking revenge against political enemies can be avoided," he said.
He said this in response to the statement made by former Chief Justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad, who expressed concern that many former prime ministers, ministers, and politicians might end up in jail after retiring from the political scene.
He was concerned that this might become a reality if there was a practice of political revenge by the current government to end the political careers of their political enemies through the indirect use of the country's legal and judicial institutions.
Hamid was prompted to question the motives following investigations against former prime ministers and opposition leaders, including two-time Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and the ninth prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who was under police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s investigations.
Commenting further, Syed Ibrahim acknowledged that Anwar and the Cabinet ministers of the unity government might also be subject to police investigations and MACC if they were accused of abusing power and misappropriating public funds after leaving the government.
However, he believed that both Anwar and any political leaders in the government bloc would be fully prepared for any eventualities.
NOT POLITICAL REVENGE
Meanwhile, Labuan Member of Parliament Datuk Suhaili Abdul Rahman rejected claims that the unity government was practising political revenge by trying to enforce legal action and court proceedings against some opposition political figures.
He added that the government should be brave enough to drag any individual involved in the act of unlawfully plundering the country's wealth before the court to prove that they were not rhetoric in eradicating corruption.
"However, with the country facing an economic crisis, I suggest that it would be better for the government to offer any citizen of this country, whether a political leader or a business figure found to be keeping billions of ringgit abroad, to bring back the funds to Malaysia to help strengthen the ringgit's value.
"Maybe the funds taken out and stored abroad are stolen public funds, maybe not but I think this method is a win-win in ensuring that those involved do not feel they are facing political revenge.
"Imagine if the government succeeds in creating a formula of amnesty or tax rebates for political and business figures to bring back funds stored abroad, I believe at least RM1 trillion can be injected back into the domestic economy," the Perikatan Nasional MP who recently declared his support for Anwar said.