Kuala Lumpur: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has sought to assure that his government will not interfere in any ongoing court cases, pledging that he will ensure the independence of the judiciary.
“As prime minister, I will not interfere in any matters of the judiciary, and they (judges) will carry out their duties independently and transparently.
“They are fully responsible to the Federal Constitution, the rakyat, and to God,” he told the Dewan Rakyat here.
He claimed that international investors were reluctant when it came to investing in Malaysia due to a lack of confidence in the independence and transparency of the judiciary and enforcement agencies.
Anwar also said he had spoken to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Azam Baki to remind him that he was dealing with a new prime minister who “means what he says” when it came to combating corruption.
“I want to clean this country of corruption and abuse of power.”
Anwar also urged MPs to be civil when debating in Dewan Rakyat, following the numerous shouting matches that took place yesterday.
He then hit out at opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin for allegedly slandering him yesterday by citing a report from a little-known Italian news outlet that described him as a “full-blown homosexual”.
Hamzah had asked Anwar if he would take legal action against the website, Agenzia Nova, over their report.
Earlier, communications and digital minister Fahmi Fadzil questioned the news outlet’s credibility, pointing out that it was not even on a Reuters list of news outlets in Italy.
He told Hamzah not to “scam” the people, adding that he thought the opposition leader would have cited a proper news portal or agency of the same “level” as Bernama, the BBC or the New York Times.
