The transport minister said DAP ministers would push for the establishment of a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to investigate the alleged scheme during Friday’s Cabinet meeting, reported Malaysiakini.
“If the government’s response was sufficient, I would not need to make a public call,” he said when asked whether the government’s response had been lacking.
“To be frank, I feel the government’s response has been inadequate and does not meet the public’s expectations.”
A Bloomberg report had alleged that MACC officers were part of a “corporate mafia” which provided intimidation “services” such as raids, to pressure business executives to sell their shares.
MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki however rubbished the report and invited those with information on the matter to lodge police reports.
A government committee is investigating allegations in a separate Bloomberg report that Azam held 17.7 million shares in a company.
This is said to breach a government circular limiting civil servants to no more than 5% of paid-up capital or RM100,000 in value, whichever is lower, in Malaysian-incorporated companies.
Azam said the transaction was declared and the shares disposed of last year, and his lawyers have filed a lawsuit against Bloomberg over the report, seeking RM100 million in damages.
In the Malaysiakini report, Loke insisted that the government must treat the “corporate mafia” allegations with the utmost seriousness, particularly given Bloomberg’s stature as an influential international media organisation.
“There are two separate allegations. One concerns the shareholding issue, which we must investigate, and a committee has already been set up for that.
“The other allegation concerns the ‘corporate mafia’. I said (at the Cabinet meeting) that the government must consider establishing an RCI.
“We first raised this proposal at the last Cabinet meeting and will continue to push for it. This is DAP’s position.”
He said the matter was also raised in the Dewan Rakyat several years ago by DAP chairman Gobind Singh Deo, a practising lawyer who said his client had faced such issues.
“These are not new allegations. We have heard similar complaints before, but no international media outlet has reported on them,” said Loke.
The Seremban MP said that unless the matter was thoroughly clarified, MACC would continue to operate under a cloud of suspicion, which he said would be unfair to the anti-graft agency.
Loke also said that while he could not speak for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on the reasons behind Azam’s three contract extensions, DAP’s stance was that Azam should be replaced with a new appointee who commands stronger public confidence and is untainted by controversy.
He added that the selection of the MACC chief must adhere to the Pakatan Harapan election manifesto by undergoing parliamentary review before being finalised.
“The prime minister still has the right to nominate, but the nominee’s track record and background must first be vetted by a parliamentary committee,” he said.