Anti-corruption will be official business of Parliament - Rais

Chairman of the Special Committee on Corruption (SCC) Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim said the matter was agreed to at the SCC's first meeting today.

Rais, who is also Senate president said the SCC took note of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob's firm stance against corruption, which was made clear in his speech when tabling of the 12th Malaysia Plan at the Dewan Negara on Oct 12.

He said the Prime Minister's stance would definitely guide the SCC in setting its direction in line with the mandate given under Section 14 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption (MACC) Act 2009 (Act 694).

"In accordance with the mandate, SCC will advise the Prime Minister on several aspects of corruption in a meeting to be held soon," he said in a statement today.

Rais said the SCC meeting today also discussed the matters related to the Pandora Papers, which was said to contain also the confidential financial files of several prominent figures of the country.

He said complete scrutiny will be carried out by the Senate Select Committee on Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption in terms of its authenticity and the public's rights to know.

The Dewan Rakyat had, on Oct 11, maintained its decision to disallow a motion to debate the Pandora Papers.

Meanwhile, Rais said the SCC also viewed seriously all matters and methods relating to the handling of case exhibit by MACC and urged the relevant authorities to expedite legal action over the missing case exhibit worth US$6 million (RM24.94 million).