KUALA LUMPUR: The government should set up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to allow offenders to return the corrupt wealth they gained when in power.
Instead of being bogged down by civil and criminal cases for decades, Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) chairman Thomas Fann said the setting up of the commission should be considered for the country to move forward.
"By doing so, offenders can return some of their ill-gotten gains if they do not want to face criminal charges and/or turn state witnesses against senior offenders," he said when contacted.
He said Bersih welcomed the call by Anwar to investigate past corruption.
He said those who had stolen from the country must be held accountable, regardless of when the crime took place or who was involved.
"This undertaking would be a monumental task that would require many manpower and hours.
"The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commision (MACC), Bank Negara Malaysia and the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) should carry out a joint preliminary investigation and submit a report to the prime minister within a stipulated time.
"If the preliminary report warrants further investigation, a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) should be established to investigate further with the goal of recovering the losses due to corruption."
Earlier today, Anwar announced that he had instructed the authorities, including the MACC and police, to investigate and track down those responsible for monetary losses incurred by the country due to corruption and leakages.
He said this in response to a report by think tank EMIR Research which claimed that Malaysia had lost RM4.5 trillion within 26 years.
Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research senior fellow Dr Azmi Hassan said the move could backfire if the investigation was concluded without any significant outcome.
He said the prime minister should be extra cautious with his statements as the losses involved a huge figure.
He said there was no definite figure as the estimation of losses was based on an analysis by EMIR Research.
"You have to be very careful with the RM4.5 trillion figure because we don't want to get ourselves too excited, angry or upset due to the huge amount.
"It could be higher or lower. We have no idea what is the exact figure and the only thing that we know for sure is that we are on the losing side due to corruption.
"Hence, for the prime minister to act on this particular report is quite dangerous. People can be very upset if we cannot find anything after the report and somebody could accuse the government of witch hunting."
Azmi said while the prime minister's intention to curb corruption and leakages was clear, the decision to look into past wrongdoing would not do the country good.
"It's good that he gives full support to MACC to perform their job. What's not good is to go back to 26 years ago based on the RM4.5 trillion that we lost. This won't do any good to us."
Political analyst Professor James Chin from the University of Tasmania said it would be difficult to resolve the rampant corruption in Malaysia due to the high-level individuals involved.
Citing former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal, Chin said most corruption cases in the country involved those with political power to stop investigations into their corrupt activities.
"When it comes to corruption in Malaysia, you have to divide it into two.
"One is the petty corruption done at a lower level, such as traffic police taking bribes.
"The huge problem in Malaysia is the high-level corruption which is unlikely to be resolved due to the people involved.
"One prime example was when Najib was in power and nothing could be done about the 1MDB scandal.
"Only after he lost power did the scandal haunt him."
ENDS
KW: corruption, EMIR Researc, Anwar Ibrahim, commission, investigation, truth and reconciliation commission