The Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Centre) said the government cannot be hawkish on the 1MDB case but yet ignore the allegations against Sarawak governor Abdul Taib Mahmud.

"The Malaysians who have voted in the spirit of anti-kleptocracy and anti-corruption in Malaysia cannot tolerate this impunity.

"C4 Center calls on the Pakatan Harapan government to take stern and necessary action.

"We call on attorney-general Tommy Thomas to be brave, fair and non-discriminatory in prosecuting all cases of kleptocracy and reopen Taib’s case.

"We cannot be hawkish on 1MDB and yet allow this to pass. Such corruption, if true, has no place in new Malaysia," its executive director Cynthia Gabriel said in a statement today.

Switzerland-based NGO Bruno Manser Fund had accused Taib's family of being responsible for widespread deforestation in Sarawak, estimating his wealth to be at RM46 billion.

However, de facto law minister Liew Vui Keong said Taib had been cleared of wrongdoing in 2013.

MACC chief Mohd Shukri Abdul said the commission had also opened 15 papers against Taib but was unable to implicate him without new information.

Cynthia said BMF had indicated its willingness to share information.

Furthermore, she said recent reports about Taib's alleged link to Petros, a petroleum company set up by the Sarawak government, warrants further investigation.

The Sarawak government had downplayed this, stating that the memorandum of understanding it signed with an Oman-based venture, allegedly linked to Taib, had lapsed.

"Because of this, and the hiherto absence of good governance and transparency laws in Malaysia and Sarawak that would clarify the issue, a deeper and impartial investigation into the wealth of Taib Mahmud must be conducted.

"This must be done to clarify if the state has truly been plundered and to seek justice for citizens deprived of their rightful taxpayer benefits," she said.

Taib had denied any wrongdoing during his tenure as Sarawak chief minister from 1981 to 2014.