PRIME Minister Anwar Ibrahim said today that asset declarations by ministers must be made in a responsible and transparent manner rather than just as a political gimmick.

Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, said he was in discussions with agencies, including the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), to make the process more transparent.

“Declaration of assets was a farce in the past, as far as I’m concerned.

“You could find people having hundreds of millions of ringgit and still declaring RM11 million or RM12 million, so what we need to do is to make sure parameters are clear.”

The prime minister was responding to questions about whether cabinet members had declared their assets and when the documents would be made public.

Anwar said it was shocking that some of the declarations did not represent the real wealth of the particular person after looking at the figures and files.

Meanwhile, Anwar said follow-up action has been taken for target electricity tariffs for the low- and medium-income groups, as well as for those in the agricultural sector and small and medium industries.

“There has been action. The previous government had announced an increase, but we have cancelled the plan and taken a new approach.

“We view seriously the Auditor-General’s Report on leakages and we have identified the problems in order to find the solutions,” he added. – Bernama, January 17, 2023.