ASSET declarations should be undertaken by all lawmakers, regardless of party affiliation, to revive public trust in our parliamentary process, the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center) said.
The anti-corruption watchdog said asset declaration was a crucial way in which politicians – as representatives of the electorate – could be held accountable and be subjected to public inquiry should they have unjustified or disproportionate wealth.
“Asset declaration is a vital aspect of clean and transparent governance. In principle, politicians must not use their office for personal gain or the accumulation of wealth for their political parties’ interests.”
“C4 demands that asset declaration requirements apply to all MPs and should not be used as a tool for political manoeuvring,” it said.
The comment from C4 Center came after Perikatan Nasional (PN) chief whip Takiyuddin Hassan said the government had laid out several conditions for PN MPs to be able to receive financial allocations for their constituencies through a proposed memorandum of understanding between the government and the opposition.
Takiyuddin criticised this because of opposition MPs not being part of the government.
In criticising the government, C4 Center said the asset declaration requirement by the Madani administration was a bargaining chip undermining its principles of governance.
“It is far from being a non-negotiable process that all individuals who enter politics must undertake; it is now being used as a symbolic demonstration of ‘loyalty’ to the current administration.”
“Even worse, that loyalty is rewarded through funding for opposition constituencies,” C4 Center said.
The corruption watchdog questioned why the government had unambiguous demands for asset declaration for the opposition when the government had not imposed the same obligations upon itself.
It added that if the government truly believed in the effectiveness and need for asset declarations, then why hadn’t the process been legally formalised for all MPs.
“The evidence pointing towards asset declaration here being employed cynically to score political points against the opposition is even harder to deny.
“The only way in which a demand by the government for the opposition to declare their assets can be principally justified and viewed in good faith is if all government MPs also declare their assets as a precondition to enter into the memorandum of understanding.
“Anything short of full disclosure from the Madani government will be seen as hypocritical,” C4 Center stated.
It said, however, that PN MPs could not pretend to be unfairly maligned, as their statements revealed their own antagonism towards good governance and transparency.
It added that Takiyuddin questioned the practice of imposing an asset declaration obligation, stating that it was normally only applicable to members of the government.
“This aversion towards asset declaration demonstrates their own belief that as members of the opposition, they are somehow exempt from those principles.
"It must be stated in the strongest of terms that this is a fundamentally mistaken and flawed belief.
“Transparency is not a qualified obligation based on formalised notions of who holds power and who does not. The selective application of transparency obligations is ultimately a failure of good governance,” C4 Center said.
It stressed that even though the opposition did not hold the reins of power in Putrajaya, their MPs could and should elect to declare their assets voluntarily.
“A good practice should be normalised for anyone entering public office, and as a confidence booster for the electorate,” it added. – September 6, 2024.
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