The whole of Putrajaya is now becoming a fetid swamp of corruption, malfeasance, and dishonesty.
And for good measure, he added that secular societies do not understand the concept of dosa (sins) and pahala (blessings). According to media reports, he attacked the media for highlighting the case and lamented what he saw as “media freedom practised by western countries akin to putting the people’s voice on a pedestal”. In other words, the cabinet – the highest political decision-making body in the land – shamefully passed the buck to someone else.Īnd of course, PAS leader Hadi Awang felt obliged to inject his usual incoherent, half-baked, quasi-religious rants into the whole narrative. In the meantime, minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament & Law) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar told the press that the cabinet discussed “the pros and cons” of the case and then decided to let either the Finance Ministry or the Securities Commission address the matter. Seizing upon the ‘findings’ of the Securities Commission, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri declared the matter closed and urged everyone to “just accept the decision”. In any case, Azam himself thumbed his nose at Parliament and there was nothing that anybody could do about it. Calls for the Select Committee on agencies under Prime Minister’s department to summon Azam for questioning were stymied by the committee chairman, while the speaker refused to entertain calls for a debate on the issue. Shamefully, Parliament too went along with the charade. It then clarified that Azam did in fact own and operate the account and thus no laws had been broken. The Securities Commission, which not so long ago successfully prosecuted someone less politically protected for a similar offense, said that it was “not able to conclusively establish” if Azam had violated the law on the use of trading accounts. The whole of Putrajaya is now becoming a fetid swamp of corruption, malfeasance, and dishonesty.īased on Azam’s laughable explanation (that the shares were not his but purchased by his brother in his name), the Anti-Corruption Advisory Board chairman, Abu Zahar Ujang, quickly cleared him of any wrongdoing. Instead of upholding the law and demanding the highest standards of integrity from public officials, there is a rush to cover up, explain away or ignore egregious allegations of misconduct. All the usual institutional checks and balances have broken down. What it tells us is that the Ismail Sabri administration is now completely dysfunctional and disconnected from reality.
None seem willing to do their duty act with integrity or stand up for what is right. All involved pass the buck, shrug their shoulders, or look the other way. No one takes leadership or responsibility. Instead, we see the sorry spectacle of a government running around like a headless chicken, trying to shake off yet another scandal. But sensible is not a word commonly associated with Putrajaya these days. One would have thought that the sensible thing to do would have been for Azam to step aside and a thorough enquiry conducted to determine if malfeasance had occurred.
0 kommentar(er)
