THE National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) 2019-2023 needs to be reevaluated to prioritise high-impact initiatives, says Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Policy, Planning and Research director Mohd Hafaz Nazar. 

He said it could bring significant and rapid changes to the level of governance, transparency, integrity and accountability to effectively support the ongoing fight against corruption and abuse of power. 

“Indirectly, this supports the government’s commitment in dealing with the people’s issues, especially efforts to restore, stabilise and empower the national economy,” he said in a statement today, in conjunction with the announcement of the Corruption Perceptions Index 2022 yesterday, which saw Malaysia ranked 61st out of 180 countries, compared with 62nd place in 2021. 

However, Malaysia’s score was lower by one point from 48 in 2021 to 47 in 2022. 

He said there are two main factors for the poor score – the lack of political will to fight corruption based on the slow implementation of the NACP, and repeated governance failures despite continuous disclosures by the Auditor-General. 

“They include the lack of action against civil servants who abuse their positions, the launch of the Covid-19 stimulus package without going through the debate and scrutiny process in parliament, the issue of cost overruns in mega-scale procurements, and the appointment of less-qualified people to lead government-linked companies and government-linked investment companies,” he said. 

The second factor involves delays in institutional reforms, in terms of the development of the Political Funding Bill, the Government Procurement Bill, amendments to the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010, the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission Bill, and the lack of political will to empower the MACC as an independent and effective anti-corruption institution, he said.

Hafaz said TI-Malaysia, when announcing the results of the Corruption Perceptions Index 2022, touched on the lack of information transparency in matters of public interest, such as the RM9 billion littoral combat ship (LCS) project by the Defence Ministry, as well as the perception that there is no legal action taken against public servants who abused their power.

“MACC would like to emphasise that throughout 2022, action had been taken in major cases of public interest such as the LCS case. Due to the ongoing investigation involving a foreign country, information about the investigation cannot be disclosed as it will affect the probe.

“This lack of transparency of information may create a negative perception of the MACC’s investigations and the government’s commitment, as (it looks as) if no action has been taken,” he said. 

He said in the 12th Malaysia Plan, the government accepted the Corruption Perceptions Index as a basis for measuring good governance of the country and had set targets to improve Malaysia’s position by 2025. 

He said if the target is made a key performance indicator at all levels of government on a “shared responsibility” basis, Malaysia can achieve a much better position on the index. 

“For this purpose, the government is trying to develop a national governance index such as the Malaysian Governance Index, which is ‘evidence- and outcome-based’ to measure the country’s governance. 

“The MACC is also working on a comprehensive national anti-corruption study (Malaysian Corruption Survey) based on a study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which emphasises measuring corruption experience versus perception, using primary and administrative data,” he added. – Bernama, February 1, 2023.