KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is set to drop Malaysia’s under-fire Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Azam Baki when his tenure expires on May 12, high-level sources told The Straits Times.

This comes as

against the anti-graft agency and its leader – that date back to when he was first named MACC chairman in 2020, two years before Datuk Seri Anwar came to power – have grown in volume since February.

According to government as well as legal sources in the know about the situation, Tan Sri Azam will not receive a fourth annual extension from a government under pressure to take sterner action against the anti-corruption chief.

“PM has repeatedly stressed to Cabinet in recent weeks that Azam won’t be renewed,” an official source told ST on condition of anonymity as the discussions were confidential.

Reports in February 2026 – especially from US-based news agency Bloomberg – alleging that the MACC has for years abused its wide-ranging powers to

corporate figures, has sparked uproar and protests calling for Mr Azam to be suspended pending investigations.

These calls have even come from within the prime minister’s own Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition. Former economy minister Rafizi Ramli, who was up to May 2025 the deputy president of Mr Anwar’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat, attended the “