PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s slight improvement in the 2018 Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) score and ranking is disappointing but the country is likely to see a big jump next year, Lim Kit Siang (pix) said today.
The 2018 ranking and score were a composite index from a combination of 13 surveys and assessments of corruption, collected by a variety of reputable institutions, and most of which were done before May 2018.
“When I first learnt of Malaysia’s ranking and score in the 2018 TI CPI, I was quite disappointed, as the last seven months after the historic decision of the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 have been quite memorable and unprecedented in the effort to transform Malaysia,” Lim said in a statement today.
“The former prime minister (Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak was) charged in court for corruption and other criminal offences 42 times, four charges behind the former deputy prime minister (Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi) although the former PM is expected to beat the former DPM soon with the total number corruption and other criminal charges.
“Former ‘heavy guns’ whether cabinet minister, chief minister or heads of public institutions like Felda and Tabung Haji (were) hauled to court for corruption or other criminal charges.”
The DAP adviser expressed his disappointment with Malaysia’s performance to an influential observer of corruption trends in Malaysia.
“He rightly pointed out that without the historic decision of the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018, both Malaysia’s 2018 TI CPI ranking and score would be worse than last year, probably plummeting to the lowest level for Malaysia in the 24-year TI CPI series since 1995,” Lim said.
“He pointed out that the 2018 TI CPI ranking and score were a composite index from a combination of 13 surveys and assessments of corruption, collected by a variety of reputable institutions, most of which were done before May 2018.
“But for Malaysia’s ranking and score in the 2019 TI CPI, he predicted: ‘I think next year big jump’.”
