MACC to call ex-PM soon

His aides will also be summoned in RM700mil probe

SEPANG: A former prime minister and his aides will be called either this week or next at the latest to explain how an allocation for promotions and publicity was spent during his administration, says Tan Sri Azam Baki (pic).

“We will be calling him soon,” said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner.

Azam said the former prime minister would be asked how the allocation was spent.

“We do not have many queries on how the allocation was decided or approved.

“It is more in relation to how it was spent and the companies given the task for the government’s promotion and publicity campaigns,” he said, adding that this was normal procedure during an ongoing investigation.

Azam was responding to a question on the development of MACC’s investigation into the RM700mil that was spent for this purpose by the two previous federal administrations between 2020 and 2022.

He also said the companies involved had already been summoned, but he did not elaborate.

To another question, Azam said besides the former prime minister, investigators would also be calling several individuals from his office, adding that at least four individuals would be called.

On Jan 2, the MACC confirmed that a probe had been initiated into claims of alleged misuse of the RM700mil.

Sources said MACC officers had gone to the Finance Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Department to seek information and to obtain documents in relation to the case.

Last November, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told Parliament that RM700mil had been spent since 2020 to promote the government.

The bulk of the spending was handled by the Prime Minister’s Office for advertisements and media buys to promote government initiatives.

The Prime Minister said that close to RM500mil was spent by the eighth prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin while the balance was spent by his successor Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Anwar, however, pointed out that Ismail Sabri did not spend that much and that there was balance in the funds his administration had used.

Earlier in his speech at a symposium on good governance, Azam said the Prime Minister’s Order, which was launched yesterday, spelt out the implementation of governance that was more comprehensive.

The Order replaces the Special Cabinet Committee on Anti-Corruption so that immediate, focused and more effective action could be taken by all ministries, departments and agencies to tackle governance, corruption and integrity issues.

“Good governance is neither new nor alien to us all and Malaysia places it as the topmost agenda of the country.

“I believe better compliance of the existing laws and regulations will instil a culture of integrity in society,” he said.

“We want to have a community that is of high integrity, responsible and hates corruption.”

The Order, said Azam, had four terms of reference – institutional, policy and legal reforms, work system and procedure, compliance and evaluation, as well as a culture of good governance and values.

“The success and effectiveness of government policies and good governance is a collective effort. It depends on our commitment and determination to see all these come to fruition,” he added.