COMMENT | The MACC deserves to be commended for intensifying the battle against corruption.

Almost every day there is some news item or other about the arrest of a high level civil servant or the court appearance of a senior officer with an enforcement agency.

The impression created is that the MACC is serious and earnest about weeding out corruption.

The Malaysian public should support its mission. This can be done in many ways.

The public could campaign, for instance, to make the MACC truly independent. What this means is that the MACC commissioners, especially its top brass, should be selected and appointed by Parliament.

They should not hold office at the pleasure of the executive. Their independence should be protected through the Federation Constitution.

There should also be a law that prohibits the closest kith and kin of a serving minister or deputy minister, at the federal level, or a menteri besar or executive councillor, at the state level, from bidding for any government related contract or project.

All legislators and their immediate family members should also be required to declare their assets and liabilities to the public through the MACC.

This is linked indirectly to the question of electoral financing. In the 2012 Parliamentary Select Committee’s Electoral Reform Report, which has been adopted by the Malaysian Parliament, it was suggested that the possibility of establishing a publicly administered common fund for financing general and by-elections be explored...