Let AGC, MACC be independent of the executive, secretariat says

Summary

• Protesters rallying against graft urge government to implement three reforms to curb corruption.

• Among others, they want Putrajaya to detach Attorney-General’s Chambers, MACC from the executive.

After marching from Sogo Shopping Mall to Dataran Merdeka unhindered, the anti-graft rally organiser urged Putrajaya to implement three reforms to curb corruption.

Speaking at a press conference, Sekretariat Rakyat Benci Rasuah secretary Zaim Zulkifli said the three demands are as follows:

- separating the Attorney-General’s Chambers from the Prime Minister’s Office;

- calling for the MACC to be independent of the executive branch;

- establishing the Political Funding Act.

In his speech at the rally, Zaim said the reforms, if implemented, would prove the government’s commitment to transparency.

He told the press conference that the rally was only the beginning of a wave of student activism against issues that plague the country.

“This is the beginning of us building a fresher ‘wave’.

“Before this, we placed our hopes on Bersih, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram), on various civil society organisations and NGOs.

“We’re confident that this time there is a need for new faces in our own students, birthed from us, to bring forward civil issues.

“But we do not deny Bersih’s role. We work with them,” he said.

Earlier, around 200 protesters marched for more than 1km to voice dissatisfaction over the corruption cases in the country.

Change of mind

The rally was first blocked by the Pakatan Harapan-led government, with Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil - both from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s party PKR - siding with the police.

The police had ordered the rally organisers, Sekretariat Rakyat Benci Rasuah, to obtain consent from the premises owners.

But at the last minute, Anwar said he had no issue with the rally, adding that Saifuddin had given it the green light to proceed.

Zaim said that the students are mulling further action on the issue of corruption.

He said the next step could be the handing over a memorandum in Putrajaya.

However, he explained that the secretariat would not be involved as it was only formed for the purpose of holding the rally and it would be disbanded immediately afterwards.

He also denied any political involvement in the organising of the rally, saying that the secretariat actively opposed it.

The water that was distributed to the media and rally participants was funded by the students themselves, he added.

When asked to estimate the crowd, he said he was unsure of the number of people involved.

However, he added students from more than 10 local private and public universities had thrown their support behind the event.

The rally is a follow-up to the student-led New Year’s Eve rally in Sabah, which protested against state politicians implicated in an ongoing graft scandal.

This came after a Malaysiakini exposé on Sabah assemblypersons allegedly discussing bribes to obtain mining prospecting licences, which also implicated Chief Minister Hajiji Noor.

Hajiji and others linked to the scandal have denied any wrongdoing, claiming it to be a conspiracy to destabilise the state government ahead of the state polls.

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