ALL Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates for the 14th general election (GE14) are undergoing full integrity screening to ensure they are not involved in any misconduct involving integrity, said Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi .

Zahid said the screening would play a key role in the selection of candidates.

He said the screening would be conducted by a special unit of BN with the relevant agencies, particularly the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

“Problems relating to integrity, corruption or abuse of power and even character will be given attention.

“Voters want clean candidates,” he told a press conference after opening the Malaysian Integrity Institute’s Intellectual Discussion Programme at Menara Institute Integriti here today.

Asked about the fate of candidates who did not pass the integrity screening, Zahid who is also Umno vice-president and also carrying out the duties of deputy president said “Wish them good-bye.”

He said Umno divisions, Umno state liaison committees and heads of BN component parties had submitted more than three names for each seat and thus the question of not having candidates did not arise.

“We also have a reserve pool of candidates who can be picked based on the winnability factor,” he said.

Besides integrity screening, Zahid said BN was also implementing health screening so as to avoid by-elections because of health issues post-GE14.

Earlier, in his speech, Ahmad Zahid, who is also home minister, reminded civil servants to uphold integrity and reject corruption and abuse of power to prevent leakages and tarnishing the image of the civil service.

He said the integrity level of the civil service was under constant scrutiny based on a systematic method to increase confidence among the people on efforts by the government to make the administration one that was transparent and of high integrity.

He added that efforts by the institute and MIMOS Bhd to introduce the Malaysian Integrity Profile instrument for civil servants was very timely and in tandem with the government’s desire to make integrity the main aspiration as Malaysia pursues its Transformasi Nasional 2050 vision. – Bernama, January 16, 2018.