KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia may have improved its score under the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) but several concerns remain, according to Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M).
Among them are whether or not the National Anti-Corruption Plan will be successfully implement, and if the government would make full disclosures on the progress of its 115 initiatives to battle corruption.
It also wants to know if the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) would re-open past cases without fear or favour.
TI-M president Dr Muhammad Mohan said these issues could have an impact on the CPI score for year 2020.
“We want to know if the Political Finance Bill will be tabled in March as promised given the fact that the culture of money politics is still prevalent in elections,” he said at a press conference that was called to highlight the findings of the 2019 CPI.
Also of great concern, Muhammad said, was whether or not the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission, that had been delayed, would see the light of day this year.
The index drew on 13 surveys and expert assessments measuring the perceived level of corruption of the public sector in 180 countries and territories.
Malaysia scored 53 points, up from 47 in 2018. This also helped to improve its ranking from 61st to 51st place.
Denmark and New Zealand are at the top, with 87 points each, making them the “clean countries”. At the bottom of the table are Syria, South Sudan and Somalia with 13, 12 and nine points respectively.
This is Malaysia’s best showing since the scoring system was changed from zero to 10 to zero to 100 in 2012.
Muhammad attributed the improvement to the swift action taken by the government to act on the scandals in 1Malaysia Development Bhd, SRC International, Felda and Tabung Haji since Pakatan Harapan won the elections in 2018.
This was followed by the arrest of several political figures who have been charged with corruption and money laundering.
“Under the leadership of Lateefa Koya, the MACC has become one of the most respected government agencies for having acted without fear or favour,” Muhammad said.
He said among other factors that have also helped to improve the score were greater media freedom, asset declaration by MPs and a commitment by the government to be known for its integrity rather than corruption.
Muhammad urged the government to open all its completed initiatives for public scrutiny and transparency.
“Only with such momentum and progress can we expect to see further improvements in the index next year,” he added.
