By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, June 5: Assistant Minister of Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali opines that any individual picked to head an important government body must have no political affiliation.
Hence, the ideal situation is to appoint a civil servant to be the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief.
Samariang assemblywoman Sharifah Hasidah was commenting on the appointment of former Lawyers for Liberty executive director Latheefa Koya as the new MACC chief. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) made the announcement yesterday, and her appointment, on a two-year contract, takes effect from June 1.
“Every appointment like that, especially for the civil service, it has to be coming from people who have no affiliation to any political party. Just from the civil service, that is the best,” reckoned Sharifah Hasidah.
“Anyone joining the civil service must have no political affiliation at all. It has to be above politics,” she said when met by reporters at Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg’s Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) today.
When asked if enforcement experience should be a prerequisite, Sharifah Hasidah replied in the affirmative but repeated that the person must be detached from politics.
“Yes, but better get somebody with no political affiliation or connection,” she reiterated.
Latheefa succeeds Datuk Seri Mood Shukri Abdull, who stepped down prior to the expiration of his contract on May 17, 2020. — DayakDaily
