This, said Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) chief executive Wan Saiful Wan Jan, was because the public’s expectations of politicians had placed the latter in a complicated situation.
“Some places in Malaysia are facing floods, and at the same time, they are also experiencing a flood of politicians,” he said at a forum titled “Supporting the MACC in fighting corruption in Malaysia”, here today.
“Is this really the role of a politician? This is where it becomes a little bit confusing in Malaysia.
“On one hand, we expect politicians to govern and legislate. On the other hand, we expect them to visit flood victims, help pay for school tuition fees, donate and so on.”
Such dependency on, and expectations of, financial support from politicians might even be a contributing factor for corruption, he added.
“If they (politicians) don’t do it (provide financial support to the public), they will lose out as there is a risk they may not be voted in again.
“This expectation of them to spend money on their constituents, may be a motivation for them to be corrupt.”
Wan Saiful said this mindset of members of society needed to be changed in order for corruption to be eradicated.
He said some politicians might not plan to indulge in corrupt practices, but due to financial demands from their constituents, they might see the need to find other avenues of raising money.
This would especially be so as their salaries might not be enough to meet the demands, he added.
“I think this is a major problem in our society, in which we have wrong expectations on what the role of our politicians are. Politicians, once they are elected, should be legislators.
“Why do the floods keep happening? Surely something needs to be done with the infrastructure? That is the job we pay politicians to do, but our society expects them to do something else.
“If they don’t dish out all these welfare assistance, then they will face repercussions in the next election.”
The forum came a day after the announcement of Malaysia’s rank on the 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which showed that the country had dropped by one point to 49 out of 100.
Malaysia scored 50 points in 2015, and this year’s result placed the country way behind other Asean countries such as Brunei (58) and Singapore (84).
To show support for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) continued efforts in combating graft, IDEAS launched an online signature drive under its #NyahKorupsi campaign, to promote public support for the MACC.
Wan Saiful said public support was important to tackle institutional corrupt practices and abuses of power.
He said in Indonesia, its Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) had the public’s support and respect, and this helped the commission endure retaliation from the police while sustaining their commitment towards fighting corruption.
“Our goal is to have more Malaysians coming out in public support of the MACC, because at the moment they have been making increasingly more investigations and arrests of corrupt top officials.
“There may come a time when they will need our help, which is why we want to start raising the awareness now.
“And, of course, we hope to see an environment where the MACC feels supported enough to go for those who are currently immune and not yet touched by the law,” he said.