The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) advisory board today rejected calls for the anti-graft body to be placed under the watch of the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC).

The Anti-Corruption Advisory Board (ACAB) chairperson said the move is “totally unnecessary” since the MACC is already an independent enforcement agency.

“It would create an over-regulated situation in Malaysia which is already billed as one of the world's most highly-regulated nations,” ACAB chairperson Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim said in a statement.

The EAIC last week said it wants the powers to watch over the MACC, the Social Welfare Department, Securities Commission and Companies Commission.

Meanwhile, Abdul Aziz said what Malaysia needed in order to ensure the effectiveness of its various agencies is not to form more government entities but to enhance their internal capabilities.

“The advisory board is of the view that putting MACC under EAIC will not help MACC to be more accountable for its operation as it is now, given the fact that MACC already has several independent watchdog panels which oversee its operation,” he said.

The government is therefore urged not to proceed with its move to amend the EAIC Act 2009.

Amending the act would do away with the law that exempts the MACC from being accountable to EAIC.

“We regard such a move as futile and adding another layer of bureaucracy that might lead to greater inefficiency.

“A country should not undergo a situation where an agency harbours mistrust against one another,” he said.