KUALA LUMPUR: There is no reason why the wives and children of MPs should declare their assets, says Pas Deputy President Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.
Tuan Ibrahim, who is Kubang Kerian MP, said this was because only the MPs were involved in Parliament.
“Parliament has no right to get information on the assets of the MPs’ wives and children.
“That’s why Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister (Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi) did not declare his wife’s assets,” he said at Parliament today.
Tuan Ibrahim was commenting on a statement by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Latheefa Koya that action against opposition MPs for failing to declare their assets by Dec 5 would have to come from the Dewan Rakyat speaker.
Latheefa said the MACC was just the guardian of asset declaration.
Tuan Ibrahim said although the speaker had the power, the matter had to be brought to the Select Committee.
“The committee will have to look at it first, as it is not easy to suspend the MPs,” he said.
On July 1, Dewan Rakyat unanimously passed the motion to make it mandatory for all MPs to declare their assets.
Based on the motion, all MPs need to declare their assets, apart from their wives or husbands, children as well as trustee holders made under statutory declaration.
The statutory declaration would be submitted to the Speaker of Dewan Rakyat within three months from the date the motion was passed, with a copy to be sent to the chief commissioner of the MACC.
A list of MPs who had declared their assets would be displayed at the MACC portal.
MPs who failed to do so would be referred to the Parliamentary Rights and Privileges Committee under Standing Order 80 of Dewan Rakyat for violating the rights and privileges of the house.
Tuan Ibrahim said opposition MPs should not declare their assets as they did not receive direct allocations for local projects.
The Dewan Rakyat on Nov 26 agreed to extend the deadline for declaration of assets to Dec 5 this year.
Meanwhile, a check on the MACC website revealed no information on asset declarations from the opposition. The website also reported that 135 Pakatan Harapan MPs (97.1 per cent) had declared their assets, with only four yet to do so.
It also stated that 84 (98.8 per cent) of administrative staff had declared their assets, with only one remaining.