PKR rep signs petition calling for Latheefa's resignation
Pakatan Harapan Wangsa Maju MP Tan Yee Kew has signed an online petition calling for the resignation of newly minted Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Latheefa Koya.
Tan said that she signed the petition via her Facebook account this afternoon.
The petition was initiated by an online group calling itself 'Malaysia Bahru' yesterday and has garnered 1,170 signatures as of 1.50pm today.
Pakatan Harapan Wangsa Maju MP Tan Yee Kew has signed an online petition calling for the resignation of newly minted Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Latheefa Koya.
Tan said that she signed the petition via her Facebook account this afternoon.
The petition was initiated by an online group calling itself 'Malaysia Bahru' yesterday and has garnered 1,170 signatures as of 1.50pm today.
According to the change.org website, the petitioner said the appointment of Latheefa contradicted the principles of Pakatan Harapan, which advocated no political appointment in MACC.
Speaking to Malaysiakini, Tan urged others in Harapan, as well as its supporters, to sign the petition and make their stand clear.
"This has nothing to do with Latheefa's integrity and capability. She had been with us (PKR) for two decades to push for institutional reform.
"But her appointment itself contradicted the institutional reform that we pushed for," Tan said, adding that Latheefa herself had betrayed the struggle for which she had fought so hard.
Elaborating further, she said Latheefa’s appointment should have been discussed and approved by the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Public Appointments, instead of being a unilateral decision made by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Besides that, she said no independent commission should be headed by a politician.
"Harapan won the 14th general election partly due to the institutional reforms pledged in our manifesto, and this is what we should defend," she said.
"We have been campaigning for the independence of the judiciary, the Election Commission, MACC and the National Audit Department.
"We have promised our voters that the new government would take steps to empower Parliament and limit the power of the prime minister over the appointment of the chiefs of these agencies which are crucial in fighting corruption," she said.
As such, Tan urged Latheefa to resign from her MACC position "to state her stand that she still subscribes to institutional reforms".
Failing to do so will call Latheefa's commitment towards institutional reform into question, said Tan.
Party factionalism not the issue
Admitting that she and Latheefa supported two different factions in PKR, Tan said the party's internal affairs was not the main issue at hand.
Some had viewed Latheefa’s MACC appointment as a political tool to block party president Anwar Ibrahim from becoming the eighth prime minister, noted Tan.
"But we should not allow party factionalism to distract us from the main issue," she said.
Tan also urged Mahathir to sincerely observe election promises made, adding that his move to appoint Latheefa as MACC chief was detrimental to the reforms pushed by the ruling coalition.
On Tuesday, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that Latheefa would be replacing Mohd Shukri Abdull, who stepped down just after a year of leading the MACC, and with almost a year left in his contract.
Her sudden appointment as chief commissioner of the anti-graft body courted controversy, with many questioning her impartiality due to her political affiliations, despite having resigned from PKR a day prior to taking up the post.
Many also pointed out that her appointment had bypassed the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Public Appointments formed by the new government to reduce the ability of the prime minister to intervene in key appointments, including to the MACC, as part of its election manifesto.
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