PCM: Opposition contributed to decline in CPI ranking

PETALING JAYA: Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM) has claimed that abuse of power and corruption in Opposition-led states had contributed to Malaysia's decline in the global Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2017 ranking.  

Its deputy president Datuk Huan Cheng Guan said this was contrary to claims made by Transparency International Malaysia president Datuk Akhbar Satar who said Malaysia's ranking fell due to issues surrounding several national high-profile cases in the country.  

In a statement Thursday (Feb 22), Huan claimed that abuse of power and corruption in states governed by Pakatan Harapan, especially in Selangor and Penang, led to the decline in ranking.  

He said the issues plaguing the country were Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's banglo case, the "Disneyland castle" home owned by a PKR leader, the forex controversy involving former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the Penang tunnel project.  

"Lastly, there is also the extraordinary wealth of Pakatan leaders which have also raised questions as to how they had obtained them," he said.  

Huan said when questions like these remained unanswered by Pakatan, it gives a perception of abuse of power and corruption in the Opposition, thus affecting the CPI.  

He added that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should not be blamed for failing to fight corruption.  

"The MACC has made various efforts to create awareness about the need to fight and curb graft," adding that the commission had solved many cases in the past few years.  

It was reported that last year, Malaysia went down seven places in the overall ranking of 180 countries to 62nd place with a score of 47 points.  

In 2016, Malaysia ranked 55 among 176 countries, with a score of 49 out of 100.