KUALA LUMPUR: Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) today urged the prime minister to relinquish the finance minister’s post following increasing concerns over the dealings of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

In a statement yesterday, TI-M said that the 1MDB saga has brought into scrutiny the prime minister’s position as Finance Minister.

“Such a practice dilutes the principle of “check and balance” within the Cabinet,” the statement said.

“By ensuring the finance minister is a different person from the prime minister, the rakyat is to some extent assured that a different pair of eyes and a different (and we hope an independent) mind can properly and objectively weigh the financial decision being made,” it further added.

It said that the finance minister has a “wide array of powers” to make decisions, especially as not all decisions are required to go through the Cabinet.

“There may have been some administrative efficiency argued in the past for such dual portfolio but this is totally outweighed by the need for the rakyat to see due process being followed and to protect the hard earned tax payers’ money,” it said.

TI-M also said that there was an urgent need for structural changes within the government to take place.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is also the chairman of the 1MDB advisory board. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 11, 2015.