Media activist Ahmad Lutfi Othman who lodged a string of reports against Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo for alleged corruption appealed to Minister in the Prime Ministers Department Dr Rais Yatim today to raise the issue of graft with the Cabinet.

In a letter addressed to Rais, Lutfi pleaded with the de facto law minister to convince Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to revamp the existing power structure in the government.

He described corruption as a bad and disgraceful phenomenon which has pervaded the system of governance.

This is not only a problem about Dr Khir Toyo, even if his corruption case is horrific in his brief period thus far as (Selangor) menteri besar, he said.

The system which gives opportunities to corruption must be wholly corrected besides the need to replace leaders who dabble in corruption and abuse their authority.

Lutfi, who is the former editor of several banned political magazines, also stressed that the current structure which gives the menteri besar the absolute authority to award land and projects to anyone he or she chooses must be abolished.

Also, there must be a body to monitor the situation after this structure is abolished. Information regarding the approval of land and projects must be made public, he added.

Lutfi was scheduled to meet Rais today. However, the meeting was postponed indefinitely as the minister had to appear in Parliament.

The media activist has lodged a series of reports against Khir with the Anti-Corruption Agency last year. Among others, he claimed that Khir had abused his authority to approve land for dubious companies.

Lutfi alleged that some of these companies have on board directors who were related to Khirs assistants. There were also directors who knew the menteri besar personally.

And there were also directors who didnt even know they had applied for land from the state government, although their names were listed as such, he said.

Khir paranoid

Lutfi also claimed that Khir had become increasingly paranoid following the exposé of his alleged corrupt practices.

He said the state leader recently instructed that papers of items to be discussed at state executive council meetings should only be given on the day of the meeting although they should be distributed to the councillors a day earlier for their perusal.

It is more ridiculous when all the papers including the minutes are collected back after the meeting, he said.

He noted this as he believed that only those who attended exco meetings were able to provide him with proof of Khirs alleged wrongdoings.