THE opposition leader under a Pakatan Harapan federal government will be accorded the status of a full minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad said in a policy talk today.

The PH chairman said the coalition’s manifesto promised this as part of moves to recognise and give due respect to the role of the opposition.

“The opposition leader will be given the same treatment as minister from Umno or BN,” Dr Mahathir said in the talk that was broadcast live on Facebook.

A PH government will also create slots in Parliament sittings for “any opposition agenda” to be raised, as well as revamp parliamentary select committees to give them a bigger role.

These are among PH’s moves to stamp out corruption in the long run, by strengthening accountability in government.

The former prime minister, who led Malaysia for 22 years, said corruption is “a disease that will affect the lives of Malaysians”.

Other suggestions in the PH manifesto, he reiterated, would be to limit the term of the prime minister, reduce the number of ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department and make the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) answerable to Parliament. 

To fight corruption, Dr Mahathir also said proper values needed to be instilled in children from an early age. 

He said if the “culture to combat corruption” was cultivated from early on, the country would not have to deal with major problems even if there were no harsh laws on corruption.

“We find that in certain countries, the corruption level is not that high. This is because they themselves stay away from corruption. 

“It is not because of the laws but they feel that corruption is a major crime or a sin,” Dr Mahathir added. 

Dr Mahathir has in recent years been attacking his former protege, Prime Minister Najib Razak, over corruption allegations involving the state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Bhd which Najib started.

Some US$4.5 billion in assets allegedly bought with stolen 1MDB funds have been sought for forfeiture by the US Department of Justice. The civil suits to seize these assets have now been stayed in order to facilitate a criminal probe. – March 14, 2018.