DAP MP reels in MIC chief, says he's fishing in wrong pond with Zahid analogy for Anwar

A DAP lawmaker welcomed MIC chief SA Vigneswaran’s defence of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, but said the comparison with Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was a case of mixing apples with oranges.

For Kampar MP Chong Zhemin, the analogy was “legally and factually misplaced”.

Chong (above, right) said the calls for Anwar’s resignation over the Retirement Fund (Incorporated) (KWAP) investment debacle cannot be compared with Zahid’s appointment as deputy prime minister when there were 47 charges against him in court.

Emphasising that the two situations are fundamentally different, Chong said when Zahid was appointed in 2022, he was already formally charged with 47 counts of criminal breach of trust, corruption, and money laundering.

“More importantly, the High Court had already found that the prosecution had established a prima facie case on all 47 charges and ordered him to enter his defence. The trial was already at the defence stage.

“A prima facie finding is not a conviction, and Zahid remained entitled to the presumption of innocence. The subsequent DNAA (discharge not amounting to an acquittal) and the attorney-general’s later decision not to continue the case also mean that he was never convicted.

“However, these developments do not erase the fact that, at the time of his appointment, there was already a judicial finding that sufficient evidence existed for him to answer the charges,” he added in a statement.

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However, Chong pointed out that KWAP incurring a loss of around RM200 million from an investment in Indonesian aquaculture startup eFishery is different because Anwar has not been charged, implicated, or shown to have personally participated in approving the investment.

“No evidence has been presented that he benefited from the transaction, interfered with KWAP’s decision-making process, or obstructed the investigation.

“The preliminary facts indicate that KWAP was a minority investor deceived by deliberate financial manipulation and false financial reporting by eFishery’s management. Other major global institutional investors including Temasek and Softbank were similarly affected,” he added.

Chong said while the principle of presumption of innocence applies to everyone, it should not be used to create a false equivalence between a person who had been charged and ordered by a court to enter his defence, and another person against whom no evidence of personal wrongdoing has been produced.

READ MORE: KINIGUIDE | Hook, line, and sinker: How KWAP's eFishery gamble unravelled 

“This does not exempt KWAP’s management, investment panel, or external advisers from accountability. The investigation must determine whether proper due diligence was conducted, whether red flags were ignored and whether negligence or misconduct occurred.

“If wrongdoing is established, firm action must be taken against those responsible.

“However, there is no factual, legal, or moral basis for demanding Anwar’s resignation. He has supported the MACC investigation and instructed KWAP and the Finance Ministry to cooperate fully,” he added.

Earlier today, Malaysiakini reported that Vigneswaran defended Anwar against calls for the prime minister to resign over the KWAP investment controversy, citing Anwar’s appointment of Zahid as his deputy despite the latter facing court charges at the time.

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