In an immediate response to Latheefa’s appointment, announced on Tuesday, MCA president Wee Ka Siong had said it goes against Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) promise to ensure that MACC personnel would head the commission.
“I feel disturbed for PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, as it is well known that Latheefa has always targeted Anwar,” he said.
“I hope her appointment is not some grand conspiracy to stop Anwar from becoming the next prime minister.”
Azmi Hassan from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia said it was true that in the past, Latheefa had targeted Anwar and his family, including his daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar.
“But I don’t see her becoming MACC chief as a threat to Anwar personally or his allies,” he told FMT.
Acknowledging that Latheefa’s appointment was out of the blue, Azmi nonetheless said it was the prime minister’s prerogative to do so.
“I think the appointment has to do with the slow pace of eradicating corrupt practices that should be spearheaded by MACC,” he said, adding that Dr Mahathir Mohamad may have believed that an “outsider” would do the job faster.
Latheefa, a prominent rights lawyer, was appointed to replace Mohd Shukri Abdull as MACC chief commissioner. The announcement was met with mixed reactions, with some questioning her neutrality given her former membership with PKR and her previous position as a member of the central committee.
Latheefa has publicly criticised Anwar before, claiming in December that he was practising cronyism and nepotism in appointing state party chiefs.
But Kamarul Zaman Yusoff of Universiti Utara Malaysia also questioned the suggestion that Latheefa’s appointment might be an attempt to stop Anwar from becoming prime minister.
“In the current scenario, it is very unlikely for Anwar or his close associates to be involved in corruption, at least not on a scale that can lead to prosecution,” he told FMT.
He said it was more likely that Mahathir was trying to exert his influence and show the world that he is in control, and not a puppet of anyone else.
“The irony is, this sort of thing is antithesis to what PH proclaims to be, which is a very democratic and engaging coalition.
“It could result in more aggressive moves by those not aligned to him to pressure him to transfer power to Anwar sooner,” he added.
Singapore Institute of International Affairs senior fellow Oh Ei Sun said while it appears clear that Mahathir has no intention of passing the baton to Anwar, Latheefa’s appointment is not necessarily linked to this.
“It is unclear whether this matter has anything to do with the refusal to hand over the reins to Anwar,” he said, adding that Mahathir had not passed the country’s leadership to Anwar two decades ago either, during his first stint as prime minister.
Oh added that Latheefa’s political background should not be connected with her new appointment.
“We must understand the full context of how that came to be,” he told FMT.
“During the days of the Barisan Nasional regime, social and democratic activists had very little space to promote their ideologies, and many of them had to resort to joining opposition parties in order to have a semblance of a public platform to articulate their beliefs.
“Due to their outspokenness and the attendant charisma, some, like Latheefa, rose quickly in the ranks. But some also got disillusioned, which was perhaps why she decided to not stand in the 2018 party election.
“So to overly associate Latheefa with partisanship is an disingenuous attempt to discredit her otherwise stellar reputation,” he said.