‘Tangkap Azam Baki’ protest pushes through despite new MACC chief appointment

SHAH ALAM - Activists and opposition figures pressed ahead with a protest today calling for the arrest of outgoing Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Tan Sri Azam Baki, even as the government has already announced his successor.

The rally, dubbed “Tangkap Azam Baki,” was organised amid growing public anger over alleged misconduct by Azam.

International media reports in February had accused him of misconduct and breaches of public service rules — allegations Azam and the MACC have described as “baseless.”

Muda president and Puteri Wangsa assemblyman Amira Aisya, in a statement ahead of the protest, confirmed the rally would proceed as planned, stating the movement had two core demands: the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate Azam and a reform of the MACC chief appointment process to involve Parliament rather than leaving it solely in the hands of the Prime Minister.

“This protest is not about one individual alone. It is about a system that has festered and needs to be overhauled immediately,” she said.

Earlier, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar in a statement said Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, has consented to the appointment of former High Court judge Datuk Seri Abdul Halim Aman as the new MACC chief commissioner, effective May 13.

Halim succeeds Azam, whose contract expires on May 12.

Azam’s contract had been extended three times since his initial appointment in March 2020, with one-year extensions granted in May 2023, May 2024 and May 2025.

His tenure had already passed the mandatory retirement age of 60 for public officials.

The King had signalled the leadership change was imminent, stating in an Instagram post that he would determine the best candidate to lead MACC and that “there is no need for any party to politicise the matter.”

But for protesters, a change of face at the top is not enough.

Civil society groups have long argued that the issue goes beyond Azam’s tenure alone — pointing to a flawed appointment process that they say is centralised in the hands of a single person and calling for a more transparent system that incorporates the role of Parliament, including through a parliamentary select committee.