MACC Urged To Reveal Details Of Taib Mahmud Probe

Joseph Tawie

The Movement of Change Sarawak (MoCS) is urging the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Rulers' Conference not to accept recommendations to appoint Taib as the head of state.

KUCHING: The Movement for Change Sarawak (MoCS), which has been at the forefront of calls for allegedly corrupt Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud to step down, now wants the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Rulers’ Conference to step in.

MoCS wants the King to direct the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to expedite its investigations into alleged reports of corruption and blatant abuse of power by Taib.

In a statement yesterday, MoCS also said it wants the details of the MACC investigations into Taib to be revealed to the public.

The movement also wants the King and the Rulers’ Conference not to accept any recommendation to appoint Taib as the Yang Di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak.

These requests are contained in a memorandum which will be submitted to the palace in Kuala Lumpur on June 13 by MoCS KL coordinator Ronald Sia.

Accusing the MACC of dragging its feet, MoCS asked: “Why does it take so long for MACC to carry out its investigations?

“All the evidence is already there following reports after reports which have been lodged against the chief minister.

“By now, not only the investigations that should have been carried, but the progress and details of the investigations should have been revealed to the public,” the statement said.

MoCS was alluding to reports that the MACC was investigating Taib over allegations of timber corruption.

MACC chief Abu Kassim Mohamed had reportedly said that the commission was gathering data on the matter following a similar action by the Swiss Anti-Corruption Agency, which recently froze Taib’s assets over allegations of timber corruption.

Swiss Federation president Micheline Calmy-Rey had in April said they were aware of the allegations and had forwarded the information on Taib’s assets in Switzerland to its regulatory body, Finma (the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority) for investigation.

Meanwhile, Bernama yesterday quoted Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general Stephen Rundi as urging Sarawakians not to pre judge the on-going probe.

He said any report or information on the matter remained allegations until proven otherwise by the authority concerned.

- FMT