MACC chief surprised at Corruption Perception Index ranking drop

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad (pix) today expressed shock on Malaysia's ranking in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) as there had been increased enforcement throughout last year.
In an immediate reaction, he pledged to further improve the situation and proposed to set up a local corruption index to analyse anti-corruption scores in all aspects.
Dzulkifli said the special corruption index should reflect the reality of the corruption level in the country and not just be based on perception.
Saying the local index should be implemented independently by experts and academicians, he added that the proposal will be presented to the Anti-Corruption Advisory Board soon before it is brought to the Cabinet within three months.
Although he did not dismiss the report outright, he said the CPI should have been better this time as enforcement last year was more aggressive than in previous years.
"There has been enforcement action taken almost every week, with high-profile arrests throughout last year. MACC had made aggressive efforts to combat corruption but the index did not reflect our work.
"We should be in a better position compared to 2016."