KUALA LUMPUR – The government and the nation’s political parties must make graft prevention the main agenda in order to save billions in taxpayers’ money, said the Association of Former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Officers, following Malaysia’s recent drop in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2021 rankings.
Its president Datuk Mazlan Mohamad, in a statement, said the government must have a high political will in its anti-corruption agenda, which should not be merely rhetoric, but implemented in a way that is effective and can be felt by the community.
He said the association also views the latest Transparency International (TI) findings seriously as it shows yet another dip in rankings compared to previous years.
Mazlan said the country is currently placed at 62 from a total of 180 countries, and the 48-score received is the worst figure recorded by Malaysia over the past decade.
“This association urges all quarters from political parties to non-governmental organisations, including all agencies, whether in the government or private sector to arise from their comfort zones and denialism, and return to the awareness of the importance of the Corruption Perceptions Index in generating the expansion of the economy and foreign investments in the country.”
“All quarters must realise that foreign investors want to invest in a country that is transparent, has reduced bureaucracy and free from corruption in order to easily conduct business without hidden additional costs.”
He said foreign investors are wary of the corruption tendencies of countries as they are often bound by the US Foreign Corrupt Practice Act (US FCPA), the UK Bribery Act, and other similar laws.
On Tuesday, Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) also revealed that Singapore is the only Asian country that made it to the top 10, while Malaysia dropped another five spots compared to 2020’s ranking.
TI-M president Muhammad Mohan said Malaysia’s ranking rebounded in 2018 due to a number of reforms and investigations on corruption cases after GE14. However, a change of government that occurred in 2020 and another in 2021 brought about a downtrend in the ranking.
Mohan said the drop could be due to stalled institutional reforms, with the last four governments lacking the political will to table the Political Financing Bill and the watering down of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill.
Meanwhile, Mazlan said the government should not delay the tabling of bills on political funding, misconduct of public office, separation of attorney-general and prosecutor roles, tenure of prime minister, and declaration of assets by politicians and senior government officials to MACC.
Furthermore, he said the government must also look into the appointment of politicians in government bodies and state-owned companies, the appointment of politicians as special ambassadors, and other acts that could have an impact on anti-corruption efforts in the country.
“In fact, the government should create or expand the powers of the Special Committee on Corruption at the parliamentary level, which can not only monitor all anti-corruption initiatives, but also as a regulatory body for strengthening the MACC,” he said.
“The special committee should consist of all parties but should be among members of Parliament or senators with high integrity and no involvement in any case or investigation of criminal acts of corruption.”
“It is time for all the initiatives developed under the National Anti-Corruption Plan to be implemented indiscriminately.” – The Vibes, January 27, 2022
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