The fight against corruption: Surat kuning and Article 34 (3)

If you abuse your power, misappropriate public funds, accept bribes or conspire to protect corruption, you are traitors to the country. - Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar

The King’s message on corruption at Parliament earlier this week is probably the strongest yet on the malaise but still short of  “epic”, says Chegubard, the political activist widely credited for helping expose the latest big corruption (From police report to charges: Chronology of senior Malaysian Armed Forces corruption cases).

In an open letter to Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, the 17th Yang Dipertuan Agong, Chegubard said epic is if the King orders civil servants throughout the country to ignore any form of surat kuning in the award of government contracts and projects. 

“Make all adhere to the process and win on merit,” Chegubard wrote.

Chegubard, whose real name is Badrul Hisham Shaharin, 47, made two more requests to the King: make the MACC answerable directly to Parliament and give precedence to Article 34 (3) of the Constitution, which specifies that the King shall not be actively involved in commercial enterprises.

Excerpts from Chegubard’s Facebook open letter to the Agong:

Hamba patik juga merafak sembah, agar dalam kesempatan ini supaya bertitah supaya semua penjawat awam seluruh negara agar menghentikan atau abaikan tekanan amalan konon ada surat kuning dibelakang apa juga keputusan. Semua wajib ikut proses dan kelayakan. Jika DYMM Tuanku bertitah tidak ada lagi surat kuning dalam melobi projek atau kontrak maka itu tindakan berani dan dikenang rakyat. 

Ia satu keberanian yang boleh di katakan epik. 

Satu perkara lagi Tuanku, mungkin Tuanku boleh gunakan kedudukan Tuanku agar mendesak kerajaan meletakkan SPRM dibawah kuasa parlimen atau melapor terus kepada parlimen bagi memperkukuhkan kuasa dan membebaskan SPRM dari dikawal individu atau kelompok. 

Ampun Tuanku. 

Dalam kesempatan ini juga hamba patik mengingatkan diri ini bahawa Raja Raja Melayu ialah institusi penting dalam negara dan ia wajib dipertahankan kesucian dan kehormatannya. Sistem Raja Berpelembagaan ini menjadi tanggungjawab semua mengukuhkan kedaulatannya.

Menurut Perkara 34 (3) Perlembagaan Persekutuan dinyatakan bahawa “Yang di-Pertuan Agong tidak boleh melibatkan diri secara aktif dalam apa-apa perusahaan komersial”.

Opening the first meeting of the 5th Session of the 15th Parliament on Tuesday, the Yang DiPertuan Agong urged the people to be “the eyes and ears of the nation and report all forms of corruption”. Corruption, he said, must be fought on a massive scale. Those guilty of corruption and those who protect corruption are “traitors to the country”. 

As the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, the YDPA was utterly disappointed with the corruption involving high-ranking officials in the army. “Agaknya lepas ini Sarjan saja dilantik jadi PAT”: Agong kecewa kes rasuah dalam ATM).

Sultan Ibrahim isn’t the only Ruler alarmed by the number of corruption cases that the MACC has unearthed in recent times. In the past week or so, three of Sultan Ibrahim’s  brother Rulers have made equally strong remarks on corruption. 

Raja Nazrin of Perak, in warning against obsession with wealth, status and power,, observed that “society is increasingly ensnared by the pursuit of outward success, often at the expense of moral integrity, spiritual purity, manners, and religious obligations”.

Tuanku Muhriz, the Yang di-Pertuan of Negeri, was shocked by public support for convicted corruption officials. . “(It) reflects not only a failure to grasp the destructive impact of corruption on institutional integrity and society’s moral foundations, but also calls for serious reflection on one’s faith, principles and values.”

Sultan Sharafuddin, lashing out at a large-scale pig farming in Malay/Muslim-majority areas in his state Selangor, wondered aloud if the project served the interests of certain groups of politicians and businessmen, even alluded to “possible elements of corruption, conflict of interest, or governance lapses in the project’s planning and approval process”.

Read also Johore Palace acts to prevent surat kuning (Nov 2014)