KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 — Sri Muda independent candidate Abdul Razak Ismail, who is running under Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s (PSM) logo, has scoffed at a Selangor government official’s suggestion for him to report alleged corruption in the state to the authorities.

Abdul Razak said there is no need for him to lodge reports, noting that the state Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) can already investigate the allegations based on media reports if it wanted to.

"Firstly, should Selangor citizens lodge a report every time there are possible cases of power abuse and misappropriation in the state government’s daily operations when the latter proudly chant the slogan of ‘Peduli Rakyat’?” he told Malay Mail Online in a text message when contacted Sunday.

"Peduli Rakyat” refers to a series of people-centric initiatives by the Selangor government.

"An ombudsman body like Selcat should be able to do its task towards any complaint involving integrity and sincerity of the state government without any need for an official report to be lodge,” he said.

"It is enough for a complaint to be highlighted in the media or papers for Selcat to start probing. That is if Selcat wishes to act more aggressively to commence its public hearing. But that did not happen.”

On Saturday, the Selangor government said it took issues of integrity and corruption very seriously, amid an allegation that abuse of power was becoming rampant in the state under the present administration.

Abdul Razak said there were already at least three cases where police reports were lodged by the public or NGOs, but he alleged no further action had been taken.

This included the RM45 million logging contract awarded without tender in Sg Terentang, the RM233,000 rental arrears from the Selangor Foundation building, and the Paya Indah Wetland case where he said complainants were not questioned before Selcat closed the case.

"PSM will continue to reveal the deterioration of Pakatan Harapan’s state leadership to voters in the seats we are contesting in the 14th general elections,” he said, urging voters to judge state government by choosing PSM’s candidates instead.

Abdul Razak is an independent candidate running under PSM’s logo for the Sri Muda state seat currently held by PKR’s Shuhaimi Shafie. The latter is also the political secretary of Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.

PSM reportedly plans to context six state seats in the next elections, including Sri Muda. The other seats are Kajang, Semenyih, Kota Damansara, Hulu Kelang and Pelabuhan Kelang.