The corruption index caps a long list of events including the economic fallout from Covid lockdowns, says DAP secretary general

by FAYYADH JAAFAR / pic by TMR FILE

THE Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has not done enough to fight corruption, said DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng (picture).

His statement comes after Malaysia fell several places in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) recently.

Lim said the corruption index caps a long list of events including the economic fallout from Covid lockdowns.

Malaysia’s depressing failures include managing the Covid-19 pandemic and the political crisis caused by weak leadership of an unelected government, Malaysia’s ranking dropped from 57th in 2020 to 62nd in 2021.

Lim said public concerns include the appointments of politicians without experience to head government-linked companies, limited progress on high-profile corruption cases, lack of action against public officials, and the lack of protections for whistleblowers.

Lim said the performance of the MACC had been disappointing with many pending investigations involving top-level individuals and corporations.

He said the MACC should be reformed and made more effective and efficient, and the Attorney General should be empowered to investigate all allegations of corruption.

“Nothing highlights the fact that MACC is part of the problem more than MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki’s refusal to take leave and allow an independent and credible panel of investigators to seek the truth from the attempted cover-up of the scandal involving his share trading account,” he wrote, adding that Azam must fully explain the circumstances surrounding the case and the steps taken to ensure the integrity of the investigation.”

“By including Azam’s share scandal, Malaysia’s TI-CPI rankings will further deteriorate in 2022,” he said.

Pejuanita Muda Malaysia head Dr Nurul Ashikin Mabahwi said the rankings needed serious attention.

“People need to take the trend of the corruption index seriously because it symbolises the level of transparency and corruption norms of our country,” she said.

“The various factors that led to the decline in the corruption perception need to be studied so that proactive measures to fight corruption and create transparency in government administration can be taken. People can help by speaking out against every misconduct around us,” she said.

“Remember the people who do not dare to speak out will form a corrupt country,” she said.

Reacting to the rankings, the MACC asked all parties to work together to improve anti-corruption efforts.

“MACC calls on all parties to continue cooperation and unity as well as have a political commitment to improve anti-corruption efforts in the country, because the Commission is subject to its jurisdiction as an enforcement agency,” the statement by MACC read.