by ASILA JALIL / graphic by MZUKRI MOHAMAD

MALAYSIA’S position in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) which dropped last year was not solely due to corruption but was also affected by other human rights issues present in the country, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. 

He said international organisations may have different views on human rights values in Malaysia and evaluated the country based on their human rights values. 

“The drop in our score was not because of corruption but it was also contributed by other issues such as human rights whereby the international organisations may have different values than our country,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday as a response to a question from Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. 

Malaysia was placed 62nd in terms of corruption out of the 180 countries that were evaluated in the global ranking by Transparency International.