The 2Ms attempted it 25 years ago. They launched the Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah initiative. They tried their best, but they did not succeed. Though the situation in Malaysia was much better than in most of the rest of the world, corruption continued unabated. Many even think that the problem grew worse. [Download]
MAKING MALAYSIA CORRUPTION FREE
By Mohamed Jawhar Hassan*
The 2Ms attempted it 25 years ago. They launched the Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah initiative. They tried their best, but they did not succeed. Though the situation in Malaysia was much better than in most of the rest of the world, corruption continued unabated. Many even think that the problem grew worse.
Abdullah Badawi took over the reins and won the general elections that followed on a promise to wipe out corruption. Some felt that while it was laudable, the solemn pledge to eradicate corruption was politically unwise. Corruption was too embedded and endemic to easily root out. The Mahathir administration had failed. The challenges were formidable, and there was every likelihood that the Abdullah administration too would fail. This would seriously undermine the new Prime Minister’s credibility, and dim his political star.
Progress
That Abdullah does mean business is shown by the fact that in the last three years there has been a record increase in the number of arrests made by the Anti Corruption Agency. From a total of 339 arrests in 2003, the number mounted to 497 in 2004, 485 in 2005 and 433 until October last year. The number of successful convictions has also increased substantially. A highly commendable 75 percent conviction rate is expected for 2006. Further, the ACA was also beefed up, a National Integrity Institute was established, and a clear strategy to curb corruption is in place.
Scepticism
The public however has remained generally unconvinced despite this significant progress. Occasional reports of abuse of power and corruption and ineffectual enforcement have contributed to this sentiment. The 2006 Corruption Perception Index released by Transparency International appeared to reinforce negative perceptions. Malaysia slipped five ranks in the global survey of 163 countries, from 39 in 2005 to 44 in 2006, though in terms of score there was hardly any difference (from 5.1 to 5.0). Clearly, the progress achieved on the anti-corruption front did not register on perceptions. Perhaps it was a failure to effectively communicate the positive news. It must be noted too that despite the slip in ranking, three-quarters of the world is still behind Malaysia.
Political risk and courage
Pak Lah has also embraced other difficult “soft??? development issues – transparency, accountability and more space for the media, besides greater credibility for political institutions. Notwithstanding that there is a compelling need to address all these issues if Malaysia is to become a fully developed country by 2020, the Prime Minister is further compounding his political risks, for the hardest issues to address are the soft issues. His administration becomes more vulnerable, because it is exposed to keener scrutiny and subject to higher standards. Governance is much easier in a more closed environment.
This risky course adopted by the Prime Minister suggests either political courage or political naiveté of the highest order. In the case of Abdullah it cannot be the latter, for he has been through too much. His courage deserves the full support of everyone – his colleagues in the cabinet, the political parties both in government and the opposition, public interest groups and the person in the street. For leaders like him are few and far between. His failure will be our failure.
A campaign by all
The campaign against corruption is one in which we all have a direct and important stake. It is easily one of the nation’s most formidable challenges, for corruption exists, to a greater or lesser extent, in the political structure, the bureaucracy and the business sector. The ordinary citizen too is implicated, by virtue of occasionally being the giver.
The government is presently consulting with a wide cross-section of business, public and private stakeholders on how best it can substantially enhance the effectiveness of the campaign against corruption. The outcome is eagerly awaited by all, not least the international community.
20 ideas
There are many critical and important things the government with the cooperation and participation of the major stakeholders can do, or do better. The following 20 ideas, some of them not entirely new, are perhaps worthy of consideration.
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