Prominent lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan wants to know which particular plantations and factories will be employing the 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers set to be brought into the country over the next three years.

This is because she is of the belief that they actually do not have potential employers.

“If I'm wrong, they should name the employers,” she said, citing previous occasions where migrant workers had been victims of human trafficking.

Commending Malaysians for asking questions with regard to the issue daily, Ambiga however found it odd that the human resources minister (Richard Riot) had remained silent on the matter.

“The one minister who should be saying something - the minister of human resources - is silent.

“Who's been speaking a lot – the deputy prime minister, the youth and sports minister, and the minister in charge of Parliament. What have they got to do with these people?” queried Ambiga.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had announced that 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers would be brought to Malaysia, in stages over the next three years, to meet the needs of employers from numerous sectors.

The workers will enter Malaysia under the G2G (Government-to-Government) Plus scheme, which allows them employment in the construction, service, manufacturing and agriculture sectors, apart from the existing plantation sector opened to them.

On another matter, Ambiga, who was speaking at a forum on 'Twin Mega Scandals: The End to Rule of Law' in Petaling Jaya last night, expressed hope that should the opposition come into power, the term for the prime minister and other leaders be limited to only two terms.

“Because, we must never, ever have a situation like this where someone can stay in power ad nauseam; even when they make us sick, they carry on as leaders.

“We must never allow that to happen in this country again,” she said.

Fellow speaker Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo ( photo ), on the other hand, suggested that for there to be independence in making decisions, powers of prosecution must also be given to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

“Powers of prosecution must be given so that the attorney-general can be put in check,” he said.

The MACC, said Gobind, should explain on what former Bar Council chairperson Lim Chee Wee meant when he said that the graft buster was told by the attorney-general that there was no need to make a request for mutual legal assistance (MLA) in relation to the RM2.6 billion issue.

“Why are they (MACC) keeping quiet? Why is there this deafening silence while one of their own panellists speaks up?”

Noting that the MACC would be meeting the attorney-general later today, Gobind urged the commission to “show its grit and gumption”.

“You want Malaysians to believe in you, you want Malaysians to believe you are transparent; when the attorney-general sees you, tell him to retract this direction.

“Tell him ‘you, sir, have no power to make this direction’. Ask him to explain and give his reasons,” he said.

Attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali last month cleared Prime Minister Najib of any wrongdoing in the RM2.6 billion 'donation' and SRC International cases.

Apandi said there was no need for the MACC to make a request for MLA to complete the investigation.

The attorney-general had also ordered the MACC to stop its investigations.

However, Lim, an MACC operations review panel member, said the attorney-general had no right to do this, and is legally obliged to consent to the MLA request.