MACC wants the government to give it additional powers to compel anyone to declare their assets without the need to prove an element of corruption.

MACC chief Abu Kassim Mohamed hoped the government would consider the proposal by the Special Committee on Corruption for an amendment to Section 36 of the MACC Act 2009, that would provide such authority to the commission.

Currently the commission does not have any legal provision to compel a person to declare his or her assets without any investigation on a corruption allegation against the person, he said at an MACC management-level dialogue with more than 30 editors representing various media agencies at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Academy in Kuala Lumpur.

[ Editor's note: Malaysiakini and other 'alternative' media organisations were not invited for this event. It is learned that they will be invited for a separate event in two weeks.]

"The initiative, if implemented, would impact positively on the government and would enhance the people's confidence in the MACC," he said, adding that the recommendation had been made in the committee's annual report in 2011.

The committee, comprising MPs from the government and opposition is one of five special panels set up in January 2009 as a check and balance mechanism on the MACC.

The four other panels are the Anti-Corruption Advisory Board, the Complaints Committee, the Operations Review Panel, and the Corruption Consultation and Prevention Panel.

Abu Kassim said the Special Committee on Corruption would also propose to the government to find the best mechanism, be it from the legal or procedural aspect, to resolve the 'legally right morally wrong' issue.

In this regard, he said the MACC needed the overall support of all parties, besides new and more effective provisions to combat corruption in the country.

Abu Kassim said without such overall support and more effective legal provisions, the fight against corruption would not have the far-reaching impact expected by the people.

"We must be in it together, regardless of political ideology, because corruption is a crime. If the law is insufficient we must make amendments, we must support," he said.

- Bernama