No promotion for govt dept heads who ignore corruption, says Anwar

PUTRAJAYA: The heads of government departments or units will not be given any promotion if they fail to report any corruption practices in their respective areas, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The Prime Minister said that he will make the suggestion to the Chief Secretary to the Government during a meeting held within the next one or two days on the decision related to the civil servant's salary adjustment.

"We will establish a rule that prevents heads of government departments or units from being promoted if they fail to report or address corruption within their systems," he said in his speech during the Prime Minister's Department (JPM) monthly assembly at Dewan De' Seri Endon, Puspanitapuri here Monday (June 10).

Also present were Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Deputy Prime Minister II Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

Anwar said that although the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and other authorities were doing well in their jobs, the government department heads and units must also play their role.

"If it's clear that certain departments are doing something wrong, why didn't the head report it? Why was the head of the department not aware? Sometimes I think it's impossible for them to be unaware of such practices that have been going on for years," he added.

The Prime Minister also said that although there are some improvements in the Auditor-General's report compared to the previous years, more needed to be done to improve the country's situation.

"I want Malaysia to be known as a country that is clean and has few corruption cases," said Anwar.