KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 — The new Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner, Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull, said he had not expected to be appointed to the post by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today.
Expressing his surprise, he said he will only be able to openly speak about the matter after he receives his appointment letter.
Mohd Shukri said he did not watch Dr Mahathir’s press conference that was broadcast ‘live’ on television and only found out about his appointment after he received dozens of calls and messages.
“I was summoned by the prime minister recently to discuss 1MDB investigations, and I understand I was not the only one. We were all called in separately at different times,” he told Malay Mail when contacted.
It was reported that, besides Mohd Shukri, 58, the other ex-MACC top personnel who had been seconded to other departments and summoned by Dr Mahathir were Immigration Department director-general Datuk Mustafar Ali and Road Transport Department director-general Datuk Shaharuddin Khalid.
Mohd Shukri replaces Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad who resigned and returned to the Attorney-General’s Chambers in an undisclosed position.
Mohd Shukri retired two years ago as the MACC deputy chief commissioner shortly after his boss, then-MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed resigned.
He had served for 32 years before he stepped down.
Dzulkifli replaced Abu Kassim immediately after a reshuffle that saw all top three personnel in the MACC replaced.
Abu Kassim and Mohd Shukri resigned while Mustafar, who was third in line, was transferred to the Immigration department as the director-general.
Mohd Shukri was in tears at his farewell speech when addressing 1,000 MACC officers for the last time, and stated that Abu Kassim and him were accused of attempting to overthrow the government.
