KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia is ranked 62 in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2021 with a score of 48, among 180 countries, dropping another five spots compared to 2020’s ranking.
Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) today also revealed that Singapore is the only Asian country that made it to the top 10.
Among the Asean countries, Malaysia is ranked third, behind Singapore and Brunei, but ahead of Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines.
“Singapore is still at the top, and we are in third place,” said TI-M president Muhammad Mohan at an online press conference.
“Malaysia’s ranking rebounded in 2018 due to a number of reforms and investigations on corruption cases after GE14.
“However, a change of government occurred in 2020 and another in 2021, which apparently brought about a downtrend in our ranking.”
Meanwhile, ranked 58 are Armenia, Greece, Jordan and Namibia while Croatia is at 63rd spot.
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.
He also attributed the fall in ranking to the acquittal or discharge not amounting to acquittal in corruption cases and the lack of political will to fight institutional corruption.
He then brought up the very limited progress and public updates on high-profile cases such as the human trafficking camps and graves at Wang Kelian, the littoral combat ships and Sabah’s water supply.
He added that there has been a lack of progress on amendments to the Whistleblower Protection Act as well as repeated unfavourable findings in the auditor-general’s annual reports.
TI-M also gave a list of suggestions for the government to improve Malaysia’s situation, such as by narrowing the scope of the Official Secrets Act and providing more informational transparency and updates on high-profile cases.
In addition, the progress of the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) should be disclosed and the International Standards on Integrity Pact in government procurement must be adopted for transparency and good governance.
Mohan called for the empowering of the chief secretary to the government to ensure NACP is implemented as well as the empowering of the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission.
He also called for the amendment of the Whistleblower Protection Act to strengthen the protection of whistle-blowers and the enactment of an asset declaration law to ensure all high-ranking officials declare their assets.
The Election Offences Act 1954 should be improved to include sanctions against misconduct, and public officials found guilty of corruption should be held accountable and step down from their positions.
In light of the recent MACC controversy, he also urged for the reform of the MACC so that it would be truly independent and report to Parliament.
“We ask for the independence and transparency of key institutions like the MACC and Attorney-General’s Chambers.
“We urgently call for the full implementation of NACP, accelerated tabling of the Political Financing Act, the independence and transparency of key institutions like the MACC, the implementation of anti-hopping law or recall elections, the empowering of Undi18, and the implementation of parliamentary reforms.”
Mohan encouraged the public to speak up as they can play a big role in reforming the country for the better.
“When they have a peaceful assembly and they want to make their points, it’s important to give them space.
“The public can play their part not only by protesting, but also communicating via channels like social media.
“We have seen reforms over the years. If you compare 10-15 years ago and what we have today, we have more freedom to speak than before, when ISA was in force.” – The Vibes, January 25, 2022
Additional reporting by Nicole Ng
