MCA president Wee Ka Siong said the decisions of the parliamentary select committee and the Cabinet Committee on Government Management Integrity “were not respected, and they were ignored”.
Wee said that a statement about the Cabinet committee by Dr Mahathir Mohamad in August last year had stipulated that the appointment of a new head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief must go through a parliamentary select committee.
However, he said, it has become clear that Mahathir had decided unilaterally to name Latheefa Koya as Mohd Shukri Abdull’s successor after the latter had voluntarily resigned.
The parliamentary select committee was not referred to, while the Cabinet was kept in the dark, he said.
Wee, a former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, also wondered if the current Cabinet was made up of yes-men as they have remained silent on Latheefa’s appointment, which had sparked a debate.
“It is as if they have forgotten pledges made in their manifesto and are forced to accept Mahathir’s decision,” said Wee in a Facebook post.
He wondered if the Pakatan Harapan presidential council had been turned into a rubber stamp.
Wee said DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and Amanah president Mohamad Sabu had both said before that Mahathir would not be able to do as he pleased after Pakatan Harapan took power, and that any decision made must be agreed upon by the component parties.
“So what happened? Can Guan Eng and Mohamad explain?”
Mahathir had a few days ago said he did not discuss Latheefa’s appointment with his ministers as he did not have to ask the Cabinet about who he approves, adding he wanted to avoid being tied down by their decision.