MALAYSIA needs laws to bar political appointees from getting positions in government-linked companies (GLC) to curb corruption and promote good governance.
“GLCs must have a transparent appointment system. We know this is the answer, but how do we get there?
“As long as GLCs are used as vehicles for political power and financial gain, we are going against taxpayers’ human rights,” the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center) executive director Cynthia Gabriel told FocusM.
When Pakatan Harapan took federal powers in 2018, the new Government appointed technocrats and industry professionals in key positions of the nation’s GLCs.
However, after the Perikatan Nasional Government took power in February, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin pushed in a large number of political leaders into leaderships positions in GLCs.
On corruption in Malaysia, Gabriel said the nation’s needs a complete overhaul on its system by empowering public institutions to act against those who indulge in corrupt practices.
“We need independent institutions that are not beholden to the political leaders so that accountability and transparency can be enforced,” Gabriel stressed, pointing to the spirit of World Anti-Corruption Day (Dec 9) and World Human Rights Day (Dec 10) which are being celebrated side-by-side.
“There is also a need for transparency in public participation, a necessary component which maintains a check and balance over those in power.
And for public participation and independent institutions to be able to fulfill their role as check and balance mechanisms, she said there must be access to pertinent information so that informed decisions can be made.
Political will lacking
However, Gabriel acknowledged that such measures require political will, which is severely lacking at this moment.
“Right now, we have a situation where there is an unending power struggle among political parties who have forgotten that public interest should come first,” she noted.
Above all else, acquitting several prominent figures from multiple financial scandals does not bode well for the nation’s record in dealing with corruption issues.
“Just look as the discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s stepson Riza Aziz on five counts of money laundering over US$248 mil and former Sabah chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman’s abrupt acquittal of 46 his corruption charges.
“And of course, the DNAA of former Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor’s over his RM1 mil corruption case,” she lamented.
Gabriel added: “I urge the Government to do the right thing and table laws to enable right to information and strengthen the Whistleblower Act which would protect witnesses on corruption issues from retaliation.” – Dec 10, 2020.
