Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) said the government should go beyond mere promises and implement clear mechanisms to prevent the house arrest legislation from being misused to benefit VIPs and convicts involved in serious crimes and public interest offences.

“If convicts of such cases are allowed to get jail terms converted to house arrest, the government will be seen to have effectively undermined the prosecution and MACC for all the hard work they have done to bring such criminals to book,” its president, Muhammad Mohan, said.

He said pardoning such offences could potentially create negative perceptions among the people and undermine the government’s commitment to the National Anti-Corruption Strategy.

“It will certainly adversely affect the government’s ambitions of reaching the top 25 in the Corruption Perception Index by 2033,” he added in a statement today.

In his 2025 budget speech, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the government would draft a new Act allowing house arrest as an alternative punishment for certain offences.

Under this proposed law, he said, offenders will be required to remain in designated locations, such as their homes or care centres, for the duration of their sentences.

Unity government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil has maintained that the bill has nothing to do with former prime minister Najib Razak, who is serving his reduced six-year sentence in the SRC International case.

Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail also said the proposed law was aimed at giving a second chance to first-time offenders and convicts such as a poor single mother jailed for stealing milk out of desperation.

The bill has been approved by the Cabinet and is being drafted by the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the prisons department. It is expected to be tabled in Parliament next year.