KUALA LUMPUR (June 7): Prime Minister (PM) Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad exercised his privilege as he considered several factors including Latheefa Beebi Koya's firmness as the reason for her appointment as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohamed Hanipa Maidin said today in a statement the Prime Minister's Office of Malaysia is accorded certain privileges duly enjoyed by the prime minister.

Mohamed Hanipa said that "to be fair to the honourable PM, all the parties must also realise that the Office of the Prime Minister has come together with its certain privileges duly enjoyed by the PM alone, and not by other offices".

"Certainly we never want to see such privileges to be unduly 'abused' and I don't see how they [are] going to be unduly 'abused'," he said.

Mohamed Hanipa said this in response to complaints from various parties on Latheefa's appointment as the new MACC chief.

He said most of the complaints are not over Latheefa's qualification for the job, but over the process of her appointment.

"The complaints received by me mostly dealt with the process or rather the procedure of her appointment. Among other things, the complaints deal with the issue of the perceived absence of transparency or proper consultation, the alleged violation of (the) written promise contained in the PH (Pakatan Harapan) manifesto, the lack of any discussion in the Cabinet or the PH Presidential Meeting, the issue of the perceived want of impartiality on the part of Latheefah, given her political background and some other issues.

"Some parties such as the Bar Council (the Malaysian Bar) and Bersih 2.0 have also come up with their official statements critically disputing the process of the appointment. Truth be told, I see the merits of their arguments," Mohamed Hanipa said.

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