(Petaling Jaya, Friday):
The
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Dr. Rais Yatim, has proved
to be very wrong when he declared that the
“toughness” of the statement by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir
Mohamad in London on Sunday that the government would not tolerate any
deliberate misappropriation of funds
or mismanagement, "crony or otherwise", was “long-awaited” and
that “From the legal viewpoint, it is one of the brightest notes in the
country's history".
Rais
told Malay Mail yesterday that
Mahathir’s London statement that
the government would act against those who mismanaged funds, even if they were
“cronies”, was the “cue” to the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and all
enforcement agencies to investigate allegations of misappropriation of funds.
But
in less than 10 hours after the Malay Mail
carrying the front-page headline, “Probe
Cue for ACA”, hit the newstands yesterday, the “cue” became
“cue-less” when on his media conference on his return from overseas,
Mahathir declared: “I would
like to stress that the Government is not going after anyone.”
A
“cue” means “a signal for
action”, but it is now clear that Mahathir had not intended any “cue” to
the ACA or to be
“tough” in his London statement when he clarified yesterday that the
government was “not going after anyone”.
I
can agree with Mahathir’s
assurance of no “witch-hunt”,
which implies an indiscriminate persecution campaign
affecting even the innocent, but when the Prime Minister is not prepared
to declare that the government would go all-out against those who
misappropriated or mismanaged funds - when
Malaysia must be the leading candidate for the Guinness Book of Records as a
nation with the most number of mega
billion-ringgit scandals without anyone having to take responsibility and
accountability - then Rais is very wrong in trumpeting a “cue” for the ACA
when there was no such cue!
In
the circumstances, Mahathir’s London speech is quite a fiasco when it could be
regarded by a Cabinet Minister as a
“cue” to the ACA for an
intrepid campaign against
corruption but which quickly became
cue-less!
However,
the fiasco of the “cue to ACA which quickly became cueless” would not be
completely in vain if the episode refocussed public attention on the ACA - which
seemed to have disappeared from the radar of national consciousness in the past
year, especially after a policeman was appointed as its director-general for the first time in the
23-year ACA history.
Media
activist Ahmad Lufti Othman yesterday declared his loss of confidence in the ACA
when he said he would not lodge a
report on the latest graft scandal concerning the Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd
Khir Toyo as the ACA had not responded to his previous five reports against the
Menteri Besar despite persistent enquiries as to the progress of their
investigations.
Rais
should try to rescue the ACA from the limbo of public oblivion as this is the
best way for him to salvage some public benefit from the fiasco of the Prime
Minister’s “cue which became cueless” by seeking Cabinet endorsement for
an innovation requiring the presentation of a report by the ACA to Parliament on
the progress of its fight against corruption.
The
first ACA report should be presented to the forthcoming meeting of Parliament
which will be reconvening on March 11 and it should deal with the various
long-standing high-profile cases,
such as:
(1/3/2002)