For all countries and societies, corruption remains as one of the main obstacles to achieving equitable development of regions and ethnic groups and thus becomes a barrier to national integration/assimilation or unity.
Rampant corruption can destabilise democratic institutions, discriminates in the distribution of resources, and violates the rights of the people especially the poor and the marginalised.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 (MACC Act 2009) does not actually define corruption, but the Commission itself clearly specifies the act of soliciting, giving, accepting or receiving gratification, directly or indirectly, to/from a person in authority either in the form of money, services or valuable goods as an inducement or reward to or not to do an act in relation to the person’s principal affairs; as undertaking the act of corruption.
Gratification, says the Commission, is to please or to satisfy, and it may come in the form of money, donation, gift, loan, fee, reward, valuable security, property or interest in property of any description whether movable or immovable, financial benefit, or any other similar advantage as stated in Part I – Preliminary, Section 3, Interpretation of the MACC Act 2009.
The popular terms used to describe corrupt situations are “pelincir” (grease money), “under the counter money”, “coffee money”, “tumbuk rusuk” (rib-punch), “makan suap” (taking bribe), “kaw tim”, etc.
As a result of corrupt practices, at one level and in different situations, we often hear about “flying licence” (lesen terbang), “fake degree” and “under-the-table permits”. And we saw how forests and hills were illegally cleared, public funds were siphoned off, and some of our leaders accumulated quite extraordinary wealth.
Throughout the decades from 1980 till now, we have both witnessed and heard about corruption and abuse of power. Some of the crimes/scandals that hit, for example, Bumiputera Malaysia Finance (MBf), Maminco, Perwaja Steel, Bank Negara Forex Exchange, Scorpene submarine deal, Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ), approved permits (AP), National Feedlot Corporation, Tabung Haji and 1MDB have been investigated.
However, many of them still remain as mysteries. The then Barisan Nasional (BN) government could have swept them under the carpet or considered investigations into them unnecessary.
Regardless of how they were dealt with it is fair to say that these scandals and widespread corruption among BN leaders were the main factors that enabled Pakatan Harapan (PH) to wrest power from them at the national level during the 14th general election last year.
Given BN’s disservice to the nation, the PH launched on January 29, 2019 the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) 2019-2023 which calls for rule of law, improvement of government efficiency, transparency and accountability, and the creation of a clean business environment.
Six priority areas have been identified – political governance, public sector administration, public procurement, legal and judicial, law enforcement, and corporate governance – as well as 22 strategies and 115 initiatives.
A week before the NACP was launched Transparency International (TI) Malaysia released its annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI). The latest CPI showed that Malaysia had climbed one notch from 62 to 61 out of 180 countries in the period from 2017 to 2018. But our score remained at 47 points out of 100 in the same time span.
In the long term, the government cannot afford to be stuck with any negative label. Although one may argue that the CPI has some flaws in their survey methodology, the ranking remains the only reliable measure that is taken seriously by big investors, students and potential tourists globally.
To some observers, the NACP measures introduced by the PH government should be able to help improve our scores by leaps and bounds in the next few years.
However, there are also concerns that the NACP is focusing too much on individual integrity. What is missing is a plan to curb covert political-business networks responsible for political patronage which is rampant at both the federal and state levels.
There are also concerns about the status of the MACC as an independent body upon being placed under Parliament, or made responsible to it. Without independence, the MACC would not be truly neutral, non-partisan, transparent and accountable. The Commission must also be equipped with prosecuting powers.
These reforms should give the public renewed confidence in the integrity of the government. Without an empowered and independent anti-corruption body, it is hard for the public to seriously take the government’s talk of making the country graft-free. – Bernama
• Dr Muhammad Asri Mohd Ali is senior lecturer and a political analyst at Universiti Malaya.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the New Sarawak Tribune.
