KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 — A crowd dressed in black gathered in the city centre today to demand the resignation of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki, who is currently embroiled in a shareholding scandal.

Led by institutional reform group Bersih, the protesters criticised the government’s response to the controversy as too soft and called for sterner action to be taken against Azam.

Among those present was former economy minister Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli, who delivered a speech reminding the ruling coalition that it was the people’s frustration with systemic corruption that brought it to power.

“You say we whine and nyet, nyet, nyet. Well, this 22 years of whining and nyet-nyet-nyet against power and the corrupted is what made you prime minister,” Rafizi said, wearing black in solidarity with the protest’s theme.

The black attire is intended to symbolise what the protesters see as a deep institutional rot that threatens the coalition’s reformist image.

MORE TO COME

 Malay Mail – Malaysia