This came after DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng raised the spectre of political motives behind his ongoing graft case.
Yesterday, Lim had said that PH’s victory in the May 9 election was a “judgment of the people on the truth”, and that this raised questions on the veracity and reliability of cases against leaders like him.
Speaking to FMT, Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) executive director Cynthia Gabriel said a new, independent AG would ascertain which graft cases were genuine or otherwise.
“If, after a review, political party leaders are still implicated in corruption, they shouldn’t accept any government position. The current AG, Apandi Ali, has been shown to demonstrate a great deal of bias,” she said.
Cynthia said ideally, reforms to the AGC, including the separation of roles between the AG and the public prosecutor, should come first but that this would take a lot of time.
“So a shorter-term measure is to have a new AG review the cases. This is why it’s important for the new AG not to be a political appointee.
“We recommend that such a person be an independent and qualified individual such as a former judge or former Bar Council president.”
Meanwhile, former Transparency International Malaysia president Ramon Navaratnam called on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to review existing cases after being reformed and strengthened.
“The most important thing is for the MACC to be independent.
“Once things have been put in place, they should carry out a review of all cases.”
Similarly, he said, other institutions such as the AGC and judiciary needed to be strengthened as well.
He added, however, that until such reforms were carried out, leaders must be careful when making statements which could be construed as interfering with institutions or legal processes.
“If there are cases in court, these cases should continue. Let the facts absolve anyone accused of wrongdoing.”
Navaratnam said post-election, the people expected a higher level of integrity, transparency and efficiency, and the PH-led government must deliver on this.