KUALA LUMPUR: Sincere political will and effective corruption investigation are vital to making the country corruption-free in the next five years, says Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) president Datuk Akhbar Satar.
“The fight against corruption is improving. I hope the new government can maintain or go one step better. The initiatives look promising, so they should maintain the momentum but not rely on Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad only. Ministers and the public too should step in,” he told Bernama after attending a forum entitled ‘1MDB – Never Again’, here, today.
Also present were political secretary to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, Tony Pua and Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) executive director, Cynthia Gabriel.
Yesterday, Dr Mahathir launched the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) to achieve the aspiration of Malaysia to be known for its integrity and not corruption.
Akhbar said based on his findings, some of those who joined politics were later involved in corrupt practices and this had reached a very serious level which called for the attention of the authorities.
“This is why the investigations conducted by the MACC have to be effective. With more specific cases and more prosecution, corruption can be curbed. Support from the ‘rakyat’ is needed too. They should be willing to give evidence, go to court but this is still lacking.
“The public should assist the MACC, give them information and statements. At the moment, we don’t have that support. I believe, when we have more cooperation from the public, the MACC will investigate without fear and more cases will be brought forth (for prosecution),” he said.
Asked on political appointees in the government system or government-linked companies (GLCs) which was among the leeway for corruption, Akhbar said politicians should know their priorities and never let the people down by failing to fulfil their responsibilities as elected representatives.
“If you’re a politician, serve the rakyat. Let the professionals take the posts (in GLCs, etc.) and you don’t take the directorship post. If you want the post, don’t become a politician in the first place,” he said.
Malaysia was ranked 61st out of 180 countries surveyed in the 2018 Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI), indicating corruption is still a problem and it has to do more in the fight against corruption. – Bernama
