Limiting terms the way to go, says Ambiga

PETALING JAYA: Limiting the terms of the prime minister, mentris besar and chief ministers is the key towards a reformed government, says Institutional Reforms Committee (IRC) member Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan.

She said this was because the centralisation of executive power was the source of problems in the past.

“There is a clear commitment to cleaning up in introducing political financing reforms and reforms to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC).

“Select committees are the way to go in Parliament and the setting up of the Ombudsman is vital to ensuring accountability of administrative bodies,” said Ambiga.

She was commenting on the mid-term review of the 11th Malaysia Plan tabled by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He emphasised better governance and more independence to key institutions such as MACC and the Election Commission.

Transparency International Mal­ay­sia President Datuk Akhbar Satar said better governance and more transparency would lead to a better ranking on the Corruption Percep­tion Index (CPI), which would in turn attract foreign investors.

In 2017, Malaysia was ranked 62 out of the 180 countries, its worst ranking in 25 years.