Wong Chen, who is Subang MP, proposed expanding the special task force’s membership to five.
“I suggest the composition of the task force be expanded to five people, by including a respected retired judge and a respected person from civil society. I would like to propose Tengku Maimun as the former senior member of the judiciary,” he said in a Facebook post.
As for the representative from civil society, Wong said he would leave it to civil society organisations to propose a suitable candidate.
Chief Secretary Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar announced yesterday that Attorney-General (AG) Dusuki Mokhtar would lead the special task force.
Treasury secretary-general Johan Mahmood Merican and public services department director-general Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz are the other two members of the task force.
They are expected to submit their findings and recommendations to the prime minister and relevant disciplinary authority.
Wong also proposed that the scope of the probe include allegations of a “corporate mafia”, which he described as a much bigger issue compared with the claims on Azam’s shareholding.
Earlier today, the G25 group of prominent retired civil servants raised concerns over the appointment of the AG to lead the special task force investigating the shareholding allegations faced by Azam.
The group said that having the AG lead the task force may give rise to perceptions of institutional conflict, given his role as the government’s principal legal adviser and the authority responsible for prosecutions.
G25 suggested that public confidence would be better served if the task force was chaired by a retired senior judge or an equally independent and respected figure with no direct reporting line within the current administrative hierarchy.
It also urged the government to put the MACC chief commissioner on garden leave while investigations are under way to prove that the administration is taking the allegations seriously and that no one is above the law or beyond public scrutiny.
A committee with insufficient powers?
Separately, Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh expressed his concerns that the committee did not have any investigative powers, such as the power to produce documents or compel witnesses to appear under the Criminal Procedure Code.
In such circumstances, the DAP MP said that it is unlikely the committee would be able to obtain information beyond Azam’s own version of events and would probably end up reporting that its conclusions were limited.
“It would be very similar to the independent investigation committee formed to look into the issue involving the seven heritage football players,” he said in a statement.