Tunku Aziz: TI exco must quit

2009/10/06
By V. Vasudevan

KUALA LUMPUR: The founding member and inaugural president of the watchdog group Transparency International Malaysia has called on the current executive council to resign enbloc and take collective responsibility for recent events involving the organisation.
Senator Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim made the call after the president, Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan, had announced his resignation over the way the Global Corruption Report 2009 had been made public.

The report had triggered controversy and unhappiness among TI members and raised questions about the organisation's objectivity.Tunku Aziz said the issue of responsibility did not end with Low's resignation."There is nothing in the Transparency International constitution requiring them to resign. But they must, as this is an ethical issue.
"If you had a part in the decision-making, you have to accept responsibility. Whether you resign or not is up to your conscience," he told a press conference yesterday.Tunku Aziz also announced his decision to quit the TI as an executive council member.Another council member, Tan Sri Robert Phang, who was present at the press conference, said he had also resigned.

Together with the president, there are 13 members in the TI executive council.Low had released the report to the media on Sept 23 without deliberation and debate by the council. It contained allegations about the government's effort to fight corruption which some felt were flawed. His action had irked several council members.Phang, who is also a member of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's advisory board, had also criticised Low. Low's resignation was announced in a statement by TI secretary-general Dr Loi Kheng Min, who is also a member of the council.Low's tenure, which began early this year, had run into controversy after he agreed to head the Port Klang Authority's corporate governance committee.

TI members felt this was a conflict as the Port Klang Free Zone project was under the overall oversight of transport ministers who were MCA leaders and Low was a lifelong member of the MCA.Tunku Aziz said yesterday that ethical behaviour and avoidance of conflicts of interest were among the mainstays of TI's operating principles and Low was in breach of these when he accepted the Port Klang Authority appointment.
Tunku Aziz was also perturbed when the PKFZ management had threatened to sue Low and TI Malaysia over remarks in the Global Corruption Report 2009 which made references to the PKFZ.


Tunku Aziz noted with dismay the way the PKFZ management was planning to take TI to court and said it would be a blemish on the organisation's image."We have been critical of the government. I was critical. They may not agree with us but they respect us," he said.Yesterday, Phang said he had little choice but to quit the council."I don't know if there are other things which he has done but kept from the council.

He has been running the TI like a 'Sdn Bhd' without consulting the committee." The other TI council members are Richard Wong Chin Mun, Dr Chin Yoong Kheong, Murad Ali Abdullah, Dr Pola Singh, Datuk Murad Hashim, Ngooi Chiu Ing, Josie Fernandez, Amu Tharmarajah, Mohamed Raslan Abdul Rahman and Datuk Mohamed Iqbal.