KUALA LUMPUR: Khairy Jamaluddin today accused Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of playing the race card when the Parliamentary opposition leader.
While debating on the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) Bill in the Dewan Rakyat, Anwar alleged that the the Barisan Nasional
(BN) government had wanted to scrap the IPCMC in order to “protect Malay police officers”.
Anwar said the government had tried to play the race card to conceal the truth behind the rejection of the idea, that the IPCMC would implicate top rank officers whom Anwar alleged were corrupt.
But Khairy denied that any BN lawmakers had ever argued that the reason for rejecting the IPCMC was because of the reason given by Anwar but was because many police officers felt the idea would demoralise them.
“You are the first to say that the IPCMC was rejected to protect Malay officers. We from the BN side have never once say that. You are the one playing the race issue here.”
Anwar, however, said he did not want to argue with Khairy but said that it was BN leaders themselves who told him about it after having conversations with them.
“I don’t want to argue with you but I spoke to some of your friends,” quipped Anwar.
While Anwar blasted the proposed EAIC as superflous, arguing that the it was not backed by the political will to tackle corruption, Khairy said Anwar’s arguments was the very reason why there was a need for the EAIC.
“What is the point of making up all this new laws if corruption among enforcement agencies are still not dealt with despite having enough laws to stop it,” said Anwar in between reading out statutory declarations made by police officers alleging corruption in the force at the highest level.
“Are you saying that the EAIC is superfluous? I disagree. The new body is necessary for the government to deal with the very points you have just raised,” countered Khairy.
Khairy, however, agreed with Anwar that the EAIC lacked the powers to deal with graft and abuse of power perpetrated by corrupt enforcement officers.
The Bill is currently is in its second reading and is expected to be made to law at the end of the current Parliament sitting.
In a press conference later, Anwar told reporters that he believed it was absurd to say that he was insulting the Malay community when criticising the police, because a majority of the police force were indeed Malays.
“We appreciate the vast majority of the police personnel including the vast majority of the Malays but we cannot condone corruption, intimidation, harassment, bullying by Malays, Chinese and Indians. I think this is really unfortunate if we have to choose to defend them just because they happen to be Malays,” he said.
Anwar believes that the IPCMC is important so that the Malays can enhance their capabilities, develop professionalism and integrity. He also rejected allegations that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) had no regards for the police.
“We do recognise the importance of police personnel, we defend their rights. We understand their sacrifices and we want them to succeed but they cannot be held ransom due to the corruption and inefficiency of a few police personnel, that is the major question and we want to know why they are being protected? What is at stake? Do we want a professional police force with impeccable credentials?” he added.
MI
29/06/09
While debating on the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) Bill in the Dewan Rakyat, Anwar alleged that the the Barisan Nasional
(BN) government had wanted to scrap the IPCMC in order to “protect Malay police officers”.
Anwar said the government had tried to play the race card to conceal the truth behind the rejection of the idea, that the IPCMC would implicate top rank officers whom Anwar alleged were corrupt.
But Khairy denied that any BN lawmakers had ever argued that the reason for rejecting the IPCMC was because of the reason given by Anwar but was because many police officers felt the idea would demoralise them.
“You are the first to say that the IPCMC was rejected to protect Malay officers. We from the BN side have never once say that. You are the one playing the race issue here.”
Anwar, however, said he did not want to argue with Khairy but said that it was BN leaders themselves who told him about it after having conversations with them.
“I don’t want to argue with you but I spoke to some of your friends,” quipped Anwar.
While Anwar blasted the proposed EAIC as superflous, arguing that the it was not backed by the political will to tackle corruption, Khairy said Anwar’s arguments was the very reason why there was a need for the EAIC.
“What is the point of making up all this new laws if corruption among enforcement agencies are still not dealt with despite having enough laws to stop it,” said Anwar in between reading out statutory declarations made by police officers alleging corruption in the force at the highest level.
“Are you saying that the EAIC is superfluous? I disagree. The new body is necessary for the government to deal with the very points you have just raised,” countered Khairy.
Khairy, however, agreed with Anwar that the EAIC lacked the powers to deal with graft and abuse of power perpetrated by corrupt enforcement officers.
The Bill is currently is in its second reading and is expected to be made to law at the end of the current Parliament sitting.
In a press conference later, Anwar told reporters that he believed it was absurd to say that he was insulting the Malay community when criticising the police, because a majority of the police force were indeed Malays.
“We appreciate the vast majority of the police personnel including the vast majority of the Malays but we cannot condone corruption, intimidation, harassment, bullying by Malays, Chinese and Indians. I think this is really unfortunate if we have to choose to defend them just because they happen to be Malays,” he said.
Anwar believes that the IPCMC is important so that the Malays can enhance their capabilities, develop professionalism and integrity. He also rejected allegations that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) had no regards for the police.
“We do recognise the importance of police personnel, we defend their rights. We understand their sacrifices and we want them to succeed but they cannot be held ransom due to the corruption and inefficiency of a few police personnel, that is the major question and we want to know why they are being protected? What is at stake? Do we want a professional police force with impeccable credentials?” he added.
MI
29/06/09
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