COMMENT | In response to Beluran MP Ronald Kiandee on the issue of the alleged Sabah mining scandal, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim dropped a bombshell in the Dewan Rakyat on Aug 19.

Anwar said that the MACC was only able to charge two assemblypersons - Andi Suryady Bandy (Tanjung Batu) and Yusof Yacob (Sindumin).

To be fair to the prime minister, he seemed to be parroting the ready-made answer prepared by MACC.

As a former deputy minister of law who used to answer questions regarding the MACC’s affairs in Parliament, I must say that not all the prepared answers by any government agency - MACC included - have to be strictly adhered to by any minister, unless they dealt with statistics and established government policies.

The way I see it, the questions posed by the Beluran MP contained both legal and political issues. If I were to answer such questions, I would have definitely answered them differently.