Malaysia is pursuing at least 18 high-profile corruption cases after this week's arrest of two prominent persons, a newspaper said on Saturday, as new Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi gears up for polls.
Eric Chia, the former head of state-owned Perwaja Steel, and Land Minister Kasitah Gaddam were both charged with graft this week, surprising investors but delighting the public as Abdullah stamped his mark as "Mr Clean" three months into office.
The Star newspaper quoted Rais Yatim, a minister in Abdullah's office, as saying there were at least 18 other corruption cases involving "high-ranking individuals and decision makers" which the authorities were due to act on.
"The Attorney-General's Chambers is looking into some of them for prosecution, while there are others which (it) cannot proceed (on) due to lack of evidence," Rais said. He could not be reached for further comment.
Prime Minister Abdullah warned investors on Friday there would be no let-up in the campaign against corruption but said the government would continue with pro-business policies.
In power since October, Abdullah has portrayed himself as a new broom sweeping through Malaysia, ordering a crackdown on red tape and corruption in business, the government and the police.
His coalition government is due to hold elections by November this year.
Kasitah, the first serving cabinet minister charged with graft, was likely to resign after meeting Abdullah on Monday, newspapers said.
But analysts said it may be difficult to abolish the nexus between business and politics which has been engrained in Malaysia for years. Abdullah's predecessor, Mahathir Mohamad, faced accusations of cronyism for handpicking businessmen for ambitious industrialisation plans throughout his 22-year reign.
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