‘No action against Taib will worsen graft index’ - Malaysiakini

Malaysiakini


Corruption allegations against Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud and his family as exposed by international NGOs yesterday must be addressed immediately.


Otherwise, this will further worsen Malaysia’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) scores, Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian warned today.



The latest allegations of misappropriation of public funds, Baru said, would be an embarrassment to the country if not tackled.

He said the government could not “continue to remain silent in this grandest cases of alleged corruption” (by Taib and Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil), and these have now come to the world’s attention.

“The cases have drawn wide interest internationally and not only will our country’s image continue to deteriorate, but so will the faith of the rakyat,” the Ba’ Kelalan state assemblyperson said in a statement today.

‘Respond to allegations immediately’

“These allegations will continue the downward trend of Malaysia’scorruption score, making a mockery of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s transformation agenda.”

Baru urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the attorney-general (AG), and the inspector-general of police (IGP) to respond to the allegations immediately.

Malaysian’s CPI rankings slid four places to 60th place this year – the worst in a decade. The organisation that annually conducts the survey attributed this to the government’s failure to tackle “grand corruption“.

The recent allegations against Taib emerged in a 10-page letter, sent to the authorities by NGOs ased in six countries, which contained 16 exhibits said to document the accusations.

Among others, the letter claims that Taib and his immediate family members own stakes in 332 Malaysian and 85 foreign companies, of which the 14 largest Malaysian companies alone would account for US$1.46 billion of the family wealth.

The letter was addressed to the IGP, AG and MACC, but copies were also sent to major foreign embassies in Malaysia, heads of government, cabinet ministers and prosecutors in seven countries, the top executives of 10 multinational corporations who conduct business in or with Sarawak and ditors of leading media outlets.

The NGOs include Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), Greenpeace and forest watch organisation Fern.

Taib and his family have faced corruption allegations before, whereas Shahrizat has come under fire since October, when PKR alleged that her husband Mohamad Salleh Ismail’s National Feedlot Corporation had abused a RM250 million government loan.

Both Taib and Shahrizat, and their families, have denied the allegations against them.