COMMENT | The Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission's (EAIC) conclusion that it found no evidence of a “cartel” in the police force as claimed by the former top cop, Abdul Hamid Bador, is just another example of how the legitimacy and credibility of public institutions in this country is down in the crapper.

I do not have much sympathy for the former inspector-general of police (IGP). He had the power and the bully pulpit to do something but chose to handle all these issues in-house. In other words, he deliberately chose not to be transparent and handle things in a way in which the cartel would not be exposed to the public.

Hamid (above) had in past pressers made allegations of former senior officers, including former police chiefs, engaged in acts that destabilise the integrity of the police force. All this is a matter of public record.

The public has a right to know what exactly is going on and the measures being taken to correct the systemic dysfunction in the state security apparatus. Unfortunately, the public knows, nothing will ever come of these allegations. We have a history of not doing anything and for handling things "in-house".

When Hamid first made these claims, there were voices clamouring for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI). If ever an RCI was needed, it would be when the top cop describes a cartel not only out to get him but also (the cartel) seemed to be the connective tissue between the political apparatus and the state security apparatus.

He rejected these calls and claimed that he could handle the situation in-house. Funnily enough, the political apparatus also concluded that this should be handled in-house.

Corruption in the state security apparatus has always been systemic. In 2015, for example, a Special Branch report concluded that 80 percent of border security personnel were on the take.

The police force has become a culture of its own succoured by religion, racialism and handouts, riddled with corruption and sharing a symbiotic relationship with the criminal underclass of Malaysian society and beholden to political masters who have always been engaged in protracted internal power struggles.

Now, it may surprise nobody that this corruption, the most damaging type of corruption – forget about street level for a moment – is centred around the upper echelon of the state security apparatus.

Any kind of initiative for policy decisions to impose some sort of oversight on the police is met with fierce resistance by elements within the top brass of the force.

Keep in mind that every top cop in this country has never wanted any kind of independent oversight. The height of ridiculousness on the setting up of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) came in 2006 when the police threatened to vote opposition if BN set up the IPCMC.

You can read about that sorry episode here. But pay attention to this bit: "Let the politicians be aware that they will eventually lose powers, control and influence over a neutral, professional and people-centred police (as suggested by the Royal Police Commission)."

Independent police commission

Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin said that to ensure transparency (in the cartel case), an investigation would also be carried out by the EAIC, which the police supports by the way.

This just goes to show you that the point made by the police about political operatives losing power if there was an IPCMC was, well, on point.

Hamzah, by the way, is not only the politician in the “our boy” recording but was also accused by Hamid of using the Special Branch for his political purposes.

Hamid said: "I was informed that the home minister forced the Special Branch to conduct a number of operations for his own political purpose. I cannot reveal the operations as every Special Branch operation is secret but suffice to say that the objective of the operation does not suit the Special Branch's national security mandate."

So this conclusion by the EAIC, after months of secrecy, is merely another attempt by the state to protect its assets – our boy(s) – in the state security apparatus.

Of course, if we had an independent police commission and Pakatan Harapan had the cajones to push through the IPCMC Bill when they were in power even though the police force was resistant to it, the rakyat would have had a little more faith in the check and balances that the state security apparatus desperately needs.

Now, the EAIC handles complaints and does investigations from many ministries, so the idea that they would be able to do a thorough investigation into the claims made by the former top cop is farcical, only because the scope of such an investigation would be beyond its capabilities.

“It is important to note that the EAIC did not find that such a cartel does not exist, but merely that its existence cannot be confirmed,” said DAP's Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh, but more importantly asked if Hamid was even interviewed.

Having said that, when the former top cop makes allegations against the home minister, claims that there were efforts by a cartel to remove him and when the people he makes those allegations against are the very people who have the power to shape the investigations and the narratives around these investigations, how can anybody take these conclusions seriously?

And this is the point. The state has already given up on providing a fig leaf. Now it is just the blunt denials that fool nobody but the state does not care.