THE Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Centre) laments Malaysia’s drop of a whopping six spots to 57th place in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2020, and is deeply troubled that this marks entrenched corruption seeping deeper into the country’s institutions and administration.
The CPI released yesterday revealed that Malaysia’s score fell two points from 2019, leading to a drop of six ranks. According to Transparency International (TI), which released the report, the drop can be attributed to the sudden change in government following the “Sheraton Move” early last year.
Influencing factors included stalled institutional reforms, limited access to information on matters of public interest, continued abuse of power and corruption by enforcement agencies, and a lack of political will to fight institutional corruption, which is embedded in the system. This does not augur well for our future, given that the United Nations Trade and Development Report listed Malaysia’s foreign direct investment as having plunged by 68%.
Other factors included the appointment of politicians to head government-linked companies, a lack of progress on the Whistleblower Protection Act and government procurement bill, as well as continued adverse findings in the auditor-general’s annual report.
While the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) was listed as a redeeming feature, scarce updates on the progress of the plan’s 115 initiatives leave C4 Centre believing that this unelected government may have put it on the back-burner, or is not even looking its way for guidance, as it clings on to power ever so desperately.
The Perikatan Nasional government has decisively rolled back many initiatives that were started by the previous Pakatan Harapan administration. Not just those in NACP, but even to the extent of suspending elections and the functions of Parliament, subverting the rule of law, a key pillar in upholding good governance.
A further example as pointed out by TI was high-profile politicians with corruption charges being taken to court, but several acquittals and discharges not amounting to an acquittal, and a lack of information on such cases, have had an adverse effect, and leading efforts on political governance and institutional reform leave much to be desired.
That these can mostly be traced to the new administration is a grave cause for concern, and the C4 Centre urges the public to call for the government to wake up and shake up, and move towards improved transparency, especially in narrowing the scope of the Official Secrets Act to only matters of national security; provide updates on the progress of NACP; and, amend the Whistleblower Protection Act.
Otherwise, NACP may as well be declared dead!
The C4 Centre urges Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to take this as a serious call to rework his administration towards strengthening the independence of our institutions, as we prepare the country for a difficult time to restore faith in the economy and political system, and restore the rule of law. – The Vibes, January 29, 2021
C4 Centre is an independent non-profit policy advocacy group dedicated to upholding good governance
