Malaysian cabinet ministers' families may have to declare assets

PUTRAJAYA: Spouses and family members of Cabinet Ministers may be required to give a copy of asset declarations to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to ensure integrity in the administration of the Government.

MACC advisory panel chairman Puan Sri Zaitun Zawiyah Puteh said although the decision was still under proposal, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak seemed receptive to the idea.

"We proposed that spouses and family members of those in the Federal administration level will also be required to do the same.

"The family members will have to disclose all their assets via a statutory declaration to make it easier for MACC to launch any investigations when needed," she told reporters after chairing a meeting at the MACC headquarters here Wednesday.

Currently, Cabinet members only have to declare their assets to the Prime Minister's Office annually but the declarations are not made public.

It was reported that Penang state executive councillors had declared assets while a special task force had been set up to identify an appropriate mechanism for the implementation of the declaration of assets by judges as announced by the Chief Justice Tan Sri Arifin Zakaria.

Zaitun said the board had proposed to the Government so they could also have access to a copy of the federal administration's assets declaration forms following allegations that the body was trying to cover up high profile cases.

"We requested for a copy to be sent to use not just for safekeeping but to make sure that the MACC is not accused of trying to cover up the anybody in the Government," she added.