State executive councillor Abdul Malik Abul Kassim said the Penang government had even wanted to sign an “integrity pledge”, as espoused by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Paul Low some time ago.

Malik said the integrity pledge fell through as Penang’s insistence that the declaration of assets for those holding positions in government administration be included in the pledge was not accepted by the federal government.

“If only they could include our existing 10 Competency, Accountability and Transparency (CAT) anti-corruption policies, especially the declaration of assets, in their pledge then maybe we could consider,” he said in a press conference at Komtar today.

He said MACC’s insistence today that Penang sign its corruption-free pledge, better known by its Malay abbreviation, IBR, was also unnecessary.

Malik said he was disappointed with MACC chief commissioner Dzulkifli Ahmad’s comments on Penang’s noncommittal stance on the IBR, adding that it could have been “politically motivated”.

Dzulkifli had said that other states had signed the IBR, with Kelantan and Selangor signalling that they would sign it as well.

“We cannot force Penang to sign it. So we’ll just have to wait and see. But looking at the scenario, a lot of corruption-related reports have been lodged in Penang,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Malik said the IBR pledge was not needed in Penang, as existing policies were already in place and were ironclad against corruption.

He said the 10 anti-corruption policies under CAT already in practice since 2008 were:

– Administration based on competency, accountability and transparency values at work;

– Open declaration of property by the chief minister and his executive councillors;

– Implementation of open competitive tenders;

– Not allowing any family members of elected reps to be involved in government contracts;

– Saying no to land applications by elected reps and those in the administration;

– Protecting genuine whistleblowers;

– Taking action on leaders who live a luxurious lifestyle beyond their official income;

– Transparency on political donations;

– Not receiving personal donations; and

– Taking stern action against any officers of the government who go against the rules above.