IT’S very sad to see that our Corruption Perception Index (CPI) score and rank have dropped.
Just a year ago, we scored 10 points higher and moved six ranks to 47 out of 180 countries.
However, it is sad that we could not sustain our place. This is the difference between our tiny nation compared to the Scandinavians and Europeans, who put in a lot of effort to not only sustain their previous rank and score but move on to a better score and rank.
It is national pride, to be labelled as a corruption-free developed nation or even as a developing nation.
Today we only managed a score of 51 points compared with 53 the previous year. We are being placed at 57 out of 180 countries in contrast with the previous year’s rank of 51. Even though the drop in two points is statistically insignificant, it signals or indicates trouble.
These scores and rank are not the result of our citizens’ perception of our own nation, but of the views of expatriates, experts, and business people in our country. It is mainly the perception of country managers located here in our country.
We shall now peruse and scrutinise the outcome of all the surveys to identify the root cause of the expatriates’ perception of corruption.
Even though it is only a perception, there must be reasons for the said perception.
Why do business people perceive that we are corrupt? Why do the expatriates perceive likewise? Do the expatriates concerned have a hidden agenda to destroy our economy? No, we don’t think that is the cause for their perception.
Out of the nine surveys that the CPI depended for Malaysia, all remained with the previous years’ score except for three surveys. They are:
i) IMD World Competitiveness Center – World Competitiveness Yearbook Executive Opinion Survey 2020, where we managed to score 51 compared to 56 in 2019;
ii) Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Asian Intelligence 2020, where we managed only 35 from 46 the previous year;
iii) Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) 2020, we scored 54 a drop from 60 in 2019.
However, Malaysia managed to score 52 compared with 49 previously in the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index Expert Survey 2020.
Hence, if we had at least maintained our previous scores in all the other eight surveys, we may have been placed better in the CPI.
Moving forward, what the nation has to do to push back our CPI score and rank in 2021?
We must maintain and proceed with all the 115 initiatives in the National Anti-Corruption Plan and furthermore issue periodic progress reports on the implementation of the initiatives.
The National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (GIACC) must be given the mandate to issue progress reports to the press.
The organisations that have developed their organisational anti-corruption plan shall upload them in their website and also in the GIACC’s website for public reference.
The department heads of the organisations shall also periodically report the progress on the initiatives that have been carried out to address the risk of corruption in their organisations.
The ongoing trials of high-profile politicians must proceed without any withdrawal of the cases, whether discharges and acquittals or even discharges not amounting to acquittals. Let the court make the decision on the closure of the prosecution's case.
The public ought to know the reasons for convictions or acquittals so to not create a negative perception against the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
MACC must have a full mandate to investigate all high-profile cases, especially involving politicians without fear or favour. Apart from that, MACC must investigate and bring to trial any officials of business entities under the new provision of Section 17A, for facilitating bribes especially to politicians.
The government shall proceed with the long delayed Independent Police Complaints of Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) bill, not the watered-down IPCC bill.
The IPCMC will create the political will necessary to eradicate corruption in enforcement, especially the police force. The government may consider to extend the bill to other enforcement agencies and rename the IPCMC to the Independent Enforcement Agencies Complaints of Misconduct Commission (IEACMC), for that matter, hence, transforming the EIAC into the new IEACMC.
Every enforcement agency, including MACC, must accept and support the proposed IEACMC bill as a sign of transparency and a check-and-balance mechanism.
The Finance Ministry and the auditor-general must establish an Independent Commission on the Auditor-General’s Report to look at leakages and non-governance in public procurement and government expenditures.
The independent commission must be of former senior government and government corporations with knowledge in government financial procedures. They must be brave to speak out or query government officials on any perceived leakage or breach of financial procedures that lead to the leakage.
This independent commission must be able to recommend domestic investigation against the perpetrator and the supervising officers or even the head of organisation for the leakage.
The independent commission shall then peruse the findings and recommend the necessary deterrent action with surcharge against the perpetrator, the supervising officer, and the head of department. The report on the leakage, investigation and action must be tabled in Parliament and made public thereafter.
The government and agencies concerned must now onwards work in collaboration with Transparency International Malaysia to look at their recommendations and view to help the nation to improve the CPI score and rank in the future, preferably the next report.
It’s time we work not in silos, but in collaboration to put our nation as a corrupt-free nation on the global map. We trust that nothing is impossible but there must be perseverance and strong will.
We love the nation and we believe Malaysia can be a corrupt-free nation. – The Vibes, January 28, 2021
Datuk Salim Sundar is co-founder and trustee of the Perdana International Anti-Corruption Champion Foundation
