MACC will use asset declaration info if cases arise

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will only use the information in the asset declaration made by Members of Parliament and members of the government administration if there are cases against them, said an MACC official.

Its deputy chief commissioner (Prevention) Datuk Shamshun Baharin Mohd Jamil said MACC was merely acting as a repository of the asset declaration information, which is stored in the agency’s data system.

However, MACC cannot take action against MPs or members of the administration who failed to declare their assets as the law does not provide for this, he added.

“What MACC is using now is the code of ethics at the Parliamentary level where they (MPs and administration members) declare (assets) to the Dewan Rakyat Speaker,” he said in an interview with Bernama at the MACC headquarters here.

"They declare their assets by filling up the asset declaration form,” he added.

He said the forms would go through several submission processes including to the Dewan Rakyat Speaker, Prime Minister’s Office, Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Centre (GIACC) before copies of the declaration were handed to MACC for safekeeping.

Asked if MACC has an online system for the MPs and administration members to declare their assets, Shamshun Baharin said the commission was still studying the matter.

“So far, MACC does not have an online system for them to declare their assets, but if there is a new law, it might be implemented,” he said.

Shamshun Baharin said many countries have introduced an online system for asset declaration and it has made the process smoother.

Last March, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin instructed all cabinet ministers to declare their assets to MACC in line with the government’s commitment in fighting corruption.

It is also in accordance with the asset declaration by MPs and administration members as stipulated in the Members of Administration Code of Ethics under the National Anti-Corruption Plan ‪2019-2023‬ launched in January last year.

-- BERNAMA