Thesun 2009-02-10 Page16 Litmus Test For Macc

16 œ

theSun

speak up! WHEN we interviewed the prime minister on the formation of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Citizen Nades and I gave our support and basically staked our reputations on the new and improved Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA). We had after all been calling for drastic changes to anti-graft laws citing various loopholes and shortcomings. We felt that the new-look MACC would be the answer to arrest the rising tide of corruption in public service, notwithstanding the fact that the proposed laws had some loopholes. The fact is that the prime minister acknowledged this and was at least

earnest in wanting to end this perception that the ACA was a good-fornothing conduit of Umno to victimise political enemies and was selective in its prosecution. Having read through the draft and being briefed on the MACC by Pak Lah and ACA No 2 Datuk Abu Kassim Mohamed, we came to the conclusion that although there were areas where the MACC Bill could be improved, such as the accounting for assets, this was definitely better than the provisions of what was then the Anti-Corruption Act. What was attractive was the formation of five committees as a check-and-balance on ACA officers as

| TUESDAY FEBRUARY 10 2009

Litmus test for MACC well as on the committees party leaders”. themselves. It gives one optimism for If the MACC was not the MACC’s success when going to be effective, then Commissioner Datuk Seri there would not have been Ahmad Said Hamdan said sneaky tactics to amend the the commission will conBill after the cabinet had tinue investigating money okayed it. Thankfully, the politics without fear or prime minister discovered favour. But assuring words this, a few days before the alone are not enough. To Bill was to be tabled and survive the MACC needs ordered the culprit to rethe support of all agencies store the draft to its original Down2Earth and especially the execuby Terence Fernandez tive and legislature which form. Nades and I even went helped accord it a wider net. to the extent of talking to MPs, convinc- Already there are attempts to derail the ing them that something is better than investigations with claims of assault nothing and that there was urgency against the MACC by at least one Umno for the Bill to be passed soon due to member under probe. attempts to derail it from within the Yes, the money politics investigation ruling party. is the litmus test for the MACC. This Now that the MACC has come into baptism of fire will reveal if the vision force, it is incumbent on the commis- of a “truly independent, effective and sion to carry out what was promised apolitical anti-corruption agency” can by the prime minister in establishing be a reality or reflects the feelings of a “truly independent, effective and critics that whether you call it the apolitical anti-corruption agency”. MACC or ACA, it is a lame duck by any The eyes of the rakyat are of course other name. focused on the 900 cases of money poliBut this is also a test for our polititics in Umno – each which can carry a cians’ moral standing. The fact that penalty of two years jail and a RM10,000 graft fighters can face so much resistfine upon conviction. Understandably, ance is a grave reminder of the ethics such cases are hard to prove because of and morals of some of our leaders and the intricate web of agents and proxies aspiring leaders, and gives one a prewho act as conduits for money from view of coming attractions as to where those seeking position. this country is headed if the MACC and Will the MACC be intimidated by decent folk who truly believe in the party members who demonstrated commission and what it stands for are recently against the commission for intimidated into silence and inaction. doing its job by questioning an Umno leader? (And where were the police and **************************** tear gas during these demonstrations?) KIDNAPPINGS and missing individuThe show of defiance was an indication als seem to be a worrying trend of late. of how the MACC is being perceived And I’m not just talking about the spate by certain quarters seen to be “close to of ransom demands which led to the

Spending big no way to beat recession by Eric S. Margolis PARIS: For those who enjoy irony, the recent economic forum in the ugly little Swiss ski resort of Davos provided rich entertainment. Former Soviet KGB chief Vladimir Putin, now prime minister of Russia, blasted attending western capitalist bigwigs for causing the current global financial disaster. Putin took special aim at the United States for allowing Wall Street fraudsters to erect a financial house of cards that finally collapsed, causing the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. While Putin was speaking, social unrest was simmering across Europe as unemployment surges and government handouts fall sharply. Britain, whose capitol had become a haven for every sort of financial piracy, is in particularly bad shape. European and Asian governments are now increasingly concerned that US President Barack Obama’s multi-trillion dollar economic rescue package may prove far worse than the sickness it is meant to cure. Politicians everywhere are panicking as voters demand they do something to keep their debt-driven economies running in high gear. This is impossible. The debt bubble has burst. But politicians are afraid to tell voters the hard truth: the party is over. Retrench, stop borrowing, cut spending, start saving, live smaller. The US economy, 25% of the world’s total, was fatally addicted to the steroid of debt. Consider this: America’s total national debt (liabilities) amounted to 3.5 times its gross domestic product (assets). The US Treasury kept running

on loans from China and Japan. Now, Obama and his team of Democratic Keynesian economists hope to spend the US out of deep recession by dishing out US$2.2 trillion (RM7.9 trillion) in freshly printed money. The famed 1930’s economist Lord Keynes claimed governments could correct recessions by massive deficit spending which would be repaid when boom times returned. His theories have become a state religion for liberals on the left of the Democratic Party. But massive deficit spending is like treating a poison victim with more big doses of poison. This kind of economic voodoo reminds me of mediaeval medicine: try every kind of dangerous procedure until you either kill the patient or he somehow survives the doctors. The crisis was caused by runaway borrowing by the Bush administration, individuals, hedge funds, and the unregulated “shadow” financial industry in New York and London. Obama’s remedy: borrow and spend US$2.2 trillion more. Europeans are gravely concerned that Obama’s planned spending orgy will eventually ignite worldwide inflation, undermine the US dollar, and raise US interest rates. Since the US runs on borrowed money, any decline in the value of its currency will require higher interest rates to be paid to foreign investors to make up for their added risk. Europeans have a well justified horror of inflation. The storm of inflation during the 1930’s Depression was the financial equivalent of the Black Death, and led directly to fascism. Europe fears the US is stoking inflation in hopes its

safe recovery of missing family members – and in one recent sad incident the body of an 18-year-old boy. Politicians too seem to be the target of kidnappers as reflected in the recent wave of alleged kidnapping attempts. Bota Assemblyman Datuk Nasaruddin Hashim’s wife had reported her husband missing – feared kidnapped – before his double defection. Now Bukit Selambau representative V. Arumugan had lodged a police report claiming there was an attempt to kidnap him – before his announcement that he is quitting his seat. Before this, we also had cases where a medical practitioner and a private investigator went missing (allegedly kidnapped) before making explosive claims and changing their stories in the case of the PI. The police should seriously look into this epidemic of missing persons; more than 1,000 individuals have been reported missing over the last 10 years, of whom 200 were children. Instead of using its limited resources towards galvanising manpower to guard residences of mentris besar or rallies at stadiums or eavesdrop at ceramah and sermons at mosques and other places of worship, taxpayers’ money would be better spent on finding these people and unravelling the truth behind their “kidnappings” once these individuals are found or show up. Terence says God works in mysterious ways. The people of Perak may get their referendum after all with the impending Bukit Gantang by-election. He is deputy editor (special reports & investigations). Feedback: terence@ thesundaily.com vast foreign debts (about US$1.2 trillion [RM4.3 trillion] to Japan and China alone) can be repaid in depreciated dollars. We’ve seen such financial chicanery before, and it leads to disaster. As one involved for nearly 50 years in business and investments, my advice to the young president is to tell Americans to patiently accept a long period of hardship and hangover, tighten their belts, and start living within their means. After eight years of untruths from the Bush administration, many Americans are ready to hear the facts, however, unpleasant. While aiding the financial system, the government should investigate all the bankers, realtors, money managers and financial alchemists who created America’s bubble economy of debt. Fraudster Bernie Madoff was not alone. Time for handcuffs, not golden handshakes. The best way to stimulate the ailing economy is to cut taxes. Let people decide how to spend their money. Washington’s plans for new bridges and day-care centres may win votes, but won’t revive the economy. Japan tried this and it failed. The US needs productive industrial investments. Obama should cut government spending and half the Pentagon’s bloated budget (50% of world military spending when there are no enemy regular military forces left to fight.). President Roosevelt launched mass social welfare schemes in the 1930’s similar to ones that Obama now proposes. Roosevelt’s New Deal may have staved off popular revolution, but it did not revive the economy. It took goading Japan into war to end the Depression. Let’s hope Obama does not intend to follow this example in Afghanistan. Eric S. Margolis is a contributing editor to the Toronto Sun chain of newspapers, writing mainly about the Middle East and South Asia. Comments: [email protected]