But the country’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2018 saw Malaysia retain its score of 47 out of 100 points, the same as the previous year, Transparency International Malaysia president Akhbar Satar announced at the Malaysian Institute of Integrity today. A higher score indicates better public perception.
“If PH (Pakatan Harapan) wants to walk the talk, the possibility is there,” Akhbar said, citing the launch of the National Anti-Corruption Plan 2019-2023 by Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
However, he said it was not for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission alone to do this as politicians must have the will to do so as well.
Akhbar added that a number of promises in PH’s Buku Harapan from GE14 had yet to be fulfilled, and said these must be realised quickly in order to see Malaysia’s ranking on corruption improve.
Eradicating corruption at all levels has been a core promise of the PH government, which took over federal power last May.
Asked if PH was doing well in combating corruption, Akhbar said it looked as if Mahathir was the main person driving the cause, and urged other PH ministers to up their game.
Earlier today, the prime minister launched a five-year plan to crack down on widespread corruption among civil servants, with a series of initiatives that promise to fight graft in a comprehensive manner.
TI’s CPI measures public sector corruption including bribery, diversion of public funds, use of public office for private gain, and nepotism in the civil service.
In Asean, Singapore scored 85th out of 100 (and ranked third globally) while Brunei went up two places to 63rd for country score and two ranks up to 31st globally. Indonesia and Thailand’s rankings went up as well, but Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia dropped on the index.
Globally, Denmark holds first place with a score of 88, New Zealand, 87, Finland, 85, Sweden, 85, and Norway, 84.
Last year saw Malaysia’s worst performance in the last five years, where it dropped seven places from the year prior to being ranked 62nd among 180 countries. Malaysia scored 47 out of 100 in the CPI in 2017.
The country did emerge third among 10 Asean countries for 2017 but was left far behind in terms of scores.
The CPI in Malaysia averaged 49.61 points from 1995 until 2017, reaching an all-time high of 53.20 points in 1996 and a record low of 43 points in 2011.
The CPI is based on surveys from businesspeople, including risk analysts and the general public working in the countries evaluated. Malaysia sourced its data from nine such sources.
The data was then externally audited by the European Commission Joint Research Centre, Akhbar said.
Akhbar recommended that Malaysia look into more effective public-private partnerships, eradicate money politics, avoid politicking on both sides of the political divide and work on institutional reforms.
He also applauded efforts by news portals Free Malaysia Today and Malaysiakini for their collective efforts in investigative journalism in this regard, saying more members of the public must be watchdogs.
People and groups have also been urged to teach from home and in schools about values that shun corrupt practices.