The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission does not give any power to its chief Ahmad Said Hamdan to comment publicly on investigations and prosecutions.

In fact the MACC Act only empowers the commission head to disclose reports relating to the commission of offences.

"It does not speak about powers of prosecution nor opinions on proposed prosecutions," said DAP's Puchong parliamentarian Gobind Singh Deo in a statement today.

malaysian anti corruption commission section 29 subsection 4 250209 Gobind's reading of the MACC Act was starkly different from that espoused by MACC deputy chief Abu Kassim Mohammad yesterday.

Abu Kassim had said that his boss was empowered by the Act to talk about high-profile cases even before a decision was made on whether to charge anyone.

He had added that Ahmad Said did not break the law when he commented on the investigations on graft allegations levelled at Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

"He had acted according to the law. As the commission's chief, he is permitted to speak. I don't have to explain further on this," Kassim was reported as saying today. He also cited Section 29(4) of the Act governing the operations of MACC.

Ahmad Said had said there was good and strong evidence that Khalid had misused his powers over the maintenance of his personal car and the distribution of 46 heads of cattle last year, worth RM110,400, for slaughter at mosques during the Hari Raya Aidiladha celebrations at his parliamentary constituency of Bandar Tun Razak.

The power is with the AG

gobind singh deo However Gobind read the MACC Act differently.

"S29(4) relates to disclosure of reports relating to the commission of offences," he said.

He also said that S58 of the Act made it clear that any prosecution under the Act will be instituted by the Attorney-General or by the MACC with the consent of the public prosecutor.

malaysian anti corruption commission section 58 prosecution of offences 250209 "Implicit in this is the fact that whether or not evidence gathered through an investigation is strong enough for prosecutions is a matter for the AG to decide," added Gobind, who is also a lawyer.

He added that the AG may form a different opinion based upon the facts in a particular case.

There may be cases where the MACC chief thinks evidence is lacking but the AG feels otherwise and chooses to prosecute, said Gobind.

"Any public opinion expressed by the MACC in such circumstances would be embarrassing and also reflect poorly on the commission," he said.

He said with that in mind, the MACC should refrain from making public announcements over cases until the advice of the AG has been obtained.

Previously Ahmad Said has been criticised by various quarters for his remarks on Khalid's case, including from Gobind's father Karpal Singh, who is the the DAP chairperson.

Make parliamentary committee bigger

koh tsu koon 100907 Meanwhile, Gerakan president Dr Koh Tsu Koon today urged the government to increase the size of the parliamentary special committee on corruption from the present seven to eleven.

This was necessary to ensure a larger and fairer representation in the committee, he said in a statement today.

The committee which was announced yesterday comprised of three Barisan Nasional MPs, three from Pakatan Rakyat and a senator (BN) from Sabah.

"I welcome these appointments...however I note that there is no representative from Sarawak and non-Umno BN component parties.

"I hope the government will rectify this in the future," he added.

"To ensure a larger and fairer representation, the government should consider amending the number of committee members from seven to eleven, which is still less than five percent of the total number of 222 representatives in Parliament," he said.

The newly appointed members of the parliamentary committee were Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad (BN-Kangar), Razali Ibrahim (BN-Muar), Abdul Rahman Dahlan (BN-Kota Belud), Dr Tan Seng Giaw (DAP-Kepong), Salahuddin Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian), Zamri Yusuf (PKR-senator) and Armani Mahirudin (BN-senator).

Koh also congratulated the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission for the appointment of five panels to oversee the commission.

"I sincerely hope that MACC, with these appointments, will usher in a new era of integrity in Malaysia and restore the people's confidence in public governance," he said.