The Malaysian Bar has expressed concerns over the way in which Latheefa Koya was appointed as MACC chief.

It also questioned if she was suited for the role, given the human rights lawyer’s lack of experience in law enforcement and her political background.

In a statement today, Bar president Abdul Fareed Abdul Gafoor (photo, above) asked why the appointment had circumvented the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Public Appointments.

“While the select committee has no force of law, its establishment was an important step to ensure that appointments of such key government positions would be transparent and serve as a check and balance on the Executive branch, in line with the promises made in the election manifesto.

“There is, therefore, no justification that it (the select committee) was not consulted to review the selection of the new chief commissioner of the MACC.

“An obvious oversight of this nature does not reflect well on the resolve of the government in practising transparency, accountability, integrity and good governance, which are attributes that it has been championing vociferously,” Fareed said.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad explained that he himself had made the appointment without consulting members of his government as he did not want to be “restrained” by their views.

Mahathir had also brushed off a promise in Harapan’s manifesto which vowed an end to political appointees, deeming the principle “not fair”.

Fareed disagreed, and urged the Harapan government to adhere by its manifesto and make no more political appointments.

“Latheefa’s resignation as a (PKR) party member three days ago, upon being informed about her impending appointment, does not significantly alter the unfavourable public perception that her appointment is clearly one of political patronage - given that PKR is a vital component of the federal government, and also has representation in several state governments.

“The era of political appointments should have ended the day Malaysians voted for a change in government on May 9, 2018.

“...the government cannot continue to say that the manifesto is not binding, as the pledges in the manifesto had been made in order to convince the rakyat to vote it into power,” he said.

Not only that, Fareed elaborated that Latheefa may have been a well-regarded lawyer but she lacked the necessary experience to be MACC chief.

“The role is one that requires a distinct set of skills, namely that of knowledge and familiarity in law enforcement and investigation,” he added.

Latheefa previously sat on PKR’s central leadership committee and helmed its legal affairs bureau. Prior to assuming her new role, she was the director of legal aid NGO Lawyers for Liberty.

Fareed called upon Putrajaya to explain Latheefa’s appointment.

“The Bar calls on the relevant authorities to clarify these critical matters, in order to ensure public trust and confidence in the independence of the institution, and therefore, the value of the government’s overall efforts in combating corruption,” he said.