Malaysia falls in graft index

"We urge the government to monitor the implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Plan and empower the chief secretary to the government to be responsible for its implementation.” - Dr Muhammad Mohan

PETALING JAYA: For the second consecutive year, Malaysia has dropped in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2021. The country ranked 62 out of 180 countries.

Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) president Dr Muhammad Mohan said the country fell five places from last year, and dropped three points from 51 points in 2020 to 48 points in 2021.

“Our scores dropped a further three points. It is a worrying trend that we are seeing with our ranking also falling to 62,” he said during a press conference held on Zoom to announce the index yesterday.

Muhammad noted that Malaysia has been seeing a downward trend for the past two years since the change of governments in 2020 and 2021.

In 2020, Malaysia was ranked 57 out of 180 countries, scoring 51 out of 100 points.

The index uses a scale of 0 to 100 points, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.

This year, Denmark, Finland and New Zealand are top in the index with 88 points each, with Singapore being the only Asian country in the Top 10, placing fifth with a score of 85 points.

Venezuela (14), Syria (13), Somalia (13) and South Sudan (11) are at the bottom of the index.

Among the Asean countries, Singapore is first, followed by Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.

Muhammad pointed out that Malaysia has deteriorated as institutional reforms have stalled due to the lack of political will to table the Political Financing Bill; the watering down of the proposed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill; and the lack of progress on reforms to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Muhammad added that several other factors include the appointment of politicians without experience to head government-linked companies (GLCs); the limited progress or public update on high profile cases such as the Wang Kelian, Sabah Water and the Littoral Combat Ship cases; the lack of progress on the amendments to the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010; the continued adverse findings and governance failures observed in the Auditor-General’s annual report; and the slow progress of the various initiatives under the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP).

Muhammad said TI-M has recommended that the government narrow the scope of the Official Secrets Act, and share information transparently including the uploading of data on all public contracts while providing regular updates on the status of high profile cases.

“We also urge the government to monitor the implementation of the NACP and empower the chief secretary to the government to be responsible for the successful implementation and achievement of the NACP.

“The government must also adopt the International Standards on Integrity Pact in Government Procurement for transparency and good governance as well as improve the independence of the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC),” he said.

He also urged for the government to address other issues, among them, to reform MACC to make it truly independent by having the body report to the Parliament; to amend the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010; to rectify the Election Offences Act 1954 to include sanctions against corruption; to include misconduct in public office as a provision in the MACC Act to hold public officials accountable for their decisions; and to enact an Asset Declaration Law to compel all politicians and high ranking public officials to declare their assets and make it accessible to the public.