IT is up to the Dewan Rakyat speaker to take action against lawmakers who fail to declare their assets before the December 5 deadline, said Latheefa Koya.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief said the commission supports the declaration of assets, but they don’t have the power to take action.

“It is for the speaker to take action. They (MPs) have to respect that. 

“If they under-declare then that’s an offence, but we haven’t reached that stage yet,” Latheefa said after a talk on corruption at Kelab Bangsar Utama tonight.

Opposition MPs are coy on whether they will declare their assets by the December 5 deadline issued by Dewan Rakyat.

Opposition leader Ismail Sabri Yaakob said they will discuss the matter and let the press know by next week.

“We’ll discuss it first and then hold a press conference on the matter before December 5. Just wait for next week,” he said when asked why opposition lawmakers have yet to declare their assets.

Only Pakatan Harapan (PH) and a handful of PAS and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) lawmakers have declared their wealth to the Speaker’s Office since July 1, when Dewan Rakyat passed a motion to make the declaration of assets compulsory for all legislators.

Latheefa said the MACC is just collecting information on the declaration forms for now and will look at them in detail after. 

“Our job is not to take action based on what they have declared but if we find out during the course of the declaration that it is false then action can be taken,” she said.

Yesterday, Dewan Rakyat voted to extend the end-October deadline for submission to December 5.

De facto law minister Liew Vui Keong earlier today said there was no need for a new law to compel MPs to declare their assets as the Dewan Rakyat Standing Orders sufficed for action to be taken against those who bucked the system.

He said the speaker is empowered to take action, including citing the offending MPs for holding the House in contempt, suspend them from debates, refer them to the Rights and Privileges Committee, and to fine them RM1,000.

The MACC website showed that only government MPs and their spouses have declared their assets, while there are no filings from any of the 83 opposition lawmakers.

Barisan Nasional has 41 MPs while GPS and PAS have 18 each.

The others are from United Sabah Alliance (3), Sarawak United Party (1) and independents (2). 

During the event, students who were present asked about how prevalent is corruption in the country.

Latheefa said that if the government had implemented declaration of assets 20 years ago, former prime minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor would not have been able to walk around with their wealth.

“It will not be possible. (But) even if they go to jail, corruption will not necessarily be eradicated. 

“We have to clean the system. Anyone with power and access to funds can be corrupt.”

Najib and Rosmah are currently facing corruption charges. – November 27, 2019.